TNextGen Full Stop
by VioletVision
Summary: Fiction 2 After Nemesis: the second story telling what happens after Nemesis with Shinzon and other characters from all Star Trek shows.
1. C1 Codes Exposed

**Full Stop**

**(Fiction 2 of 3 STNG)**

**Author's Notes:** I am dedicating this fiction to my great uncle Roy who passed away this year. He was a very kind and considerate man who helped me see that my dreams can be reality. He always told people not to be afraid of your dreams and the things you want to do in life, do them. This was not just talk for him, but the way he lived and led by example. So I say to all of you: "Let your dreams begin today. Experience them now don't wait for someday. Savor the journey of your life and leave no regrets. This makes me think of Picard talking about missed opportunities. So I continue the Nemesis story so he can find them and not miss them this time."

This is the second fan fiction that I have written. The first one is Full Reverse. If you have not read the first fiction in this series, I implore you to do so first so you will be up to date on my fiction project. If you have read the first fiction, you can skip down to chapter one of Full Stop.

_(Full Reverse takes place directly after Star Trek: Nemesis. In the movie Nemesis, Picard is faced with a clone of himself made by the Romulans. The younger clone battles Picard and in the end is defeated. My first fiction, Full Reverse, begins with Picard's new crew and the discovery that Shinzon, the clone, is on the Enterprise with amnesia and believes he is Renee Picard. Shinzon realizes who he is and gains the new counselor's trust and Q follows his progress with a guest. Shape shifters are on the Enterprise and the Remans help identify and stop them. Q looked into alternate dimensions to see other outcomes then jumps forward in time closer to the present day in the Briar Patch. Picard takes a post as Admiral in the Briar Patch and finds Data is not destroyed.)_

C 1:Codes Exposed 

Picard and Riker returned to the ready room of the Enterprise the next morning. They had spent hours on the Briar Patch planet evacuating the part of the healing colony where the explosion was. Another task they had completed was organizing a complete investigation into the explosion from the day before. They read over the reports that were still coming in that morning.

Picard waved Riker over to the summary report of the incident, "What they have found, is the council building was the source of the explosion. There were 43 casualties and 208 wounded. The parameters for the bomb that was set are in keeping with the new shape shifter's attacks. They have found a residual tissue on the detonation device and they have been studying it to find out its origin. Kunak and Donatra were questioned and were released. I personally sent Science Officer Lieutenant Jack Dortan and the Chief of Astronomics Clintor Sealt to set up a team to inspect the Briar Patch and determine if there are any ill effects in the planet's rings from the explosion." Picard took another sip of his Earl Grey tea he relishes so much. "What do you think?"

Riker rubbed his chin for a few seconds, "Guess we can check this planet off the list as being attacked by the shifters. Oh, I forgot to tell you I talked to Data before coming here. Data said he had a lead on that report you gave him on the things that Shinzon, sorry, Renee found out from the Romulans. After all this time, Data was the only one who could break the codes of the alien object and the files Shinzon got from the Romulans. Once the party was over he started going over all of the information. Data said the file spoke of shape shifters and everyone assumed it was the Dominion, and now we know it is not. The shifters are of the same origin as the alien objects, or it is trying to relay something about them to us. There is writing on the object that is a representation of the shifter's DNA, and it matched the shifters who have been cornered and kill themselves. He is waiting for the studies on the tissue from the detonator to compare it. He also told me that Deanna and Allisa will be helping out with the wounded from the explosion on the planet."

Picard found himself just looking at his hands, "Do you remember when Worf was injured and Beverly helped that other doctor put a new spine in him, and he did not have the odds in his favor?"

"I remember him just before that asking me to bring him that knife, so he could kill himself. Bringing his son into it caused him to look at it differently and he opted for the surgery instead." Riker put down a report and looked Picard in the eye.

"Now you're the one behind the desk." Admiral Picard set his tea down, "Worf would not have been able to continue with his Klingon life with handicaps. There are 21 people undergoing similar surgeries at this very moment from the explosion that are given a 50/50 or only a 25% chance of surviving. And 67 others are being fitted with new organs and limbs, like my mechanical heart I have. There are so many families grieving and others who are friends and co-workers that can't make any sense out of all of this. If you consider there are at least 10 people concerned for one who died or are hurt, there are around 2,500 people having direct emotional trauma. That was why I assigned the Enterprise for the investigation and the others for helping the survivors and the handling of the casualties. It will not take long before every planet will be affected, and then what will the shifters do? We have to find a way to put an end to this or I fear it will only get worse."

Riker had a tear in his eye as he remembered where he was earlier that morning. "I went to where they are keeping the bodies of the dead. Some of them you could not even tell they were people. They looked like a lump of burnt flesh, hair and bone with different body parts sticking out smeared with blood around the black tar looking flesh. There was a young woman I recognized the name to, Kellea. I seen her when we first got here and we were looking for your house. She was a most attractive Bajoran with long wavy brown hair. Her eyes were the brightest blue I have ever seen. With the healing powers of the planets rings, she had her sight restored and her hearing. Her demeanor was pleasant like a soft wind in a spring garden.

When I finally forced myself to look at Kellea's body, one eye was seared as if it had melted partially onto her lower eyelid and her jaw was missing leaving only ripped skin and her throat exposed. Nothing remained of the lower half of her body from the ribs down. I could not bring myself to leave her. I wished I could have gone back in time if only to save her young life from burning to death and having her body torn apart. When I started to walk away, two Bajorans walked up. It was her mother and older brother. Her mother let out a scream that only mingled with the other cries. She wrapped her arms around what remained of her girl's body. She got blood and flesh on herself, but she didn't care she just kept screaming. When she calmed down, she kept saying Kellea's father had given his life to save her from the Cardassians only to have her butchered." Riker slunk down in his chair and looked helpless at Picard.

"There was nothing we could do. We took every precaution here in the Briar Patch. Some beings don't have respect for life other then their own. Most beings when they are mad at another attack the military of that people. They do so knowing it is the extension of that government, but some attack the innocent men, women and children just trying to live their lives..." Picard was cut off by Riker's words.

"Kellea's brother then grabbed my arms and yelled, "The message said she had her sight and hearing restored. It said to come see her and take her home. What have you basta done to her?" They had arrived and no one had the chance yet to tell them what happened. After I explained what went on, the mother was hugging the son and they turned to hear a small child yelling. Kellea's brother had brought his daughter and she was only about 7 and was running at them. She was saying, "I want to see Aunt Kellea." She slowed and looked at the bodies and then where we stood and Kellea's mother covered the body. Kellea's brother ran to his daughter and covered her eyes and took her away. As he tried to consol her and left, she started crying and I heard her shriek loudly, "Aunt Kellea, they said you are all better! Who hurt my Kellea? No, I want to see her, Kelleaaaa!"

Riker's voice choked out and he closed his eyes. "I can still hear the fear and pain in that little girls voice and the look in her eyes when she knew even at that age that her aunt was dead. I promised Kellea's mother before I left that we would find who done this and stop them. She looked at me with hollow eyes and said, "How will that bring my family back." Then the brother walked up and said, "Find them and kill the bloody basta."

Riker put his hands over his face, and he took a deep breath as tears flowed down his face onto his lap, "I went to find Deanna, but there were hundreds of crying people in a sea of mutilated bodies. They were still trying to heal the ones they could who had lost limbs. This is the third planet I have been to and witnessed this devastation first hand, and this one was hit the least. I just turned around and left to find Data then came here. I just felt like they trust us to protect them, and we failed. We must find and stop those responsible if we are to ever have any peace." Riker's eyes were bloodshot and slightly swollen and even Picard had to dab of a few tears.

They did there best to regulate all of the information that was coming in and create reports of their progress. They worked as best they could for another twenty minutes until the report from the tissue on the detonator came in. They were told that Paulera, Data and Beverly would be studying the information in the Enterprise Sick Bay. That was Picard and Riker's breaking points. They could not stand to wait around any longer and went to the Ten Forward lounge where Geordi said he would be eating breakfast. "Hey Geordi, What ya eating?" Riker dropped into a chair and was followed by Picard.

"To tell you the truth, I don't know...some kind of eggs mixed with veggies on bread with sauce. Guinan, what is this again?" Geordi smiled at her and waited for her to walk over with 2 more plates.

"Good morning," Guinan smiled warmly at everyone at the table with a peace that seamed to flow from her very soul, "This is actually made this morning with my own hands from the fresh supplies Adije sent up. It's an Emul omelet, biscuit and gravy. How's the investigation going?"

Picard raised an eyebrow delighted at how Guinan seamed to calm everyone and extract information with ease. He could not shake the feeling that the lady who ran the lounge knew more about the goings on then he did. "This smells delicious. As we all suspected, it was the shifters again. I have to admit I find it repulsive and cowardly that they are resorting to bombs and assassinations before trying diplomacy. If we could just sit down and talk to form a compromise with their grievances if any, we could stop this pointless killing. Guinan, do you remember any shifters other then the few we have already ruled out as possible sources for all of this?" He took a healthy bight of his omelet and hoped in all her vast traveling she might have something to offer.

She sat down at the table and kept her voice very low in soothing tones, "I remember hearing a sound on the ship the same time that Worf did, and I knew it was something I had never experienced before. The source of the sound you know. The object each empire has seams to be dripping with clues if everyone would let their pride and self-preservation subside for a few minutes and work together. When you took the alien object to its destination marked on it in the Denab system, it glowed and emitted a signal. Maybe it was calling home with what it had found. Probes and attacks all at the same time, makes you wonder. Did the shifters send the probes and start the attacks or are the shifters attacking because someone else sent out the probes? It could be any number of possibilities. Then you have to wonder with all the new planets and beings we come across out here in space, have we harmed anyone unknowingly who might retaliate?"

Geordi set his fork down, "Guinan you are wise beyond our years." To that everyone relaxed a little more, remembering she is an El-Aurian and over 500-years-old.

They finished eating and conversing over the things that Guinan said and what Data found. As they stood to leave they heard what they were waiting for. "Captain Riker?" Data's voice always made Riker smile now that they had him back then he frowned. It made him think of old times and the poker games the officers of the Enterprise always played, but this time he could only think of the seven-year-old Bajoran child. Surly the child will haunt him at every turn till he finds what is going on and puts a stop to it.

"Riker here." He looked up to the ceiling in an automatic response. His heart started to speed up and pound against his chest at the anticipation of discovery.

"We have some results for you and Admiral Picard to inspect." Data's voice had a hint of hesitation in it. "Would it be alright if Geordi was brought in on this matter?"

A few minutes later, Picard and Riker joined the team in the Sick Bay. Beverly and Paulera were pressing a few buttons when they entered, and Picard leaned over slightly to get a look at Beverly's wedding band. He felt a wave of happiness being emitted from her slight smile as she turned and seen him. He hoped she was as happy with Odan as he was with Adije. Picard never told her truly how much he had loved her for all those years. He was happy now that it was understood and not spoken. He was also glad it had not gone as far as a romantic relationship.

Picard looked down at a screen and remembered in the alternate future timeline they tried to have a relationship, and it did not work out. He inhaled a deep breath and knew the future would be different for the better. "What do you have for us?"

Data approached the group. "I have established that it is a shifter who set the device. I also found that the shifters are silicon based life forms. Captain James Kirk reported life forms of this kind for the first time on Janus VI. The life form is called a Horta. Apparently, it was attacking the miners. Spock later found that the miners were killing its eggs and stopped. They worked together making tunnels after that. I cross-referenced the Horta with the other shifter's tissue that has been recovered. The Horta and the shifters have different elemental compositions. I did find however that the shifter tissue is of the same consistency and elements as the remains of the Crystalline Entity we encountered on Stardate 45122.3. If you remember, Dr. Marr altered the graviton beam and the encounter ended in its destruction. The entity was responsible for over a dozed attacks and is known to extract all life forms from planets for fuel leaving uninhabitable wastelands in its wake. The Crystalline Entities are linked to the shifters. On the alien object on a small panel, there was a sequence that I also identified as the shifter's DNA. There was also another symbol that appears to be a warning."

Geordi looked at the floor then back to Data, "The probes might have been a warning about the shifters. I always thought there might be more then one of the Crystalline Entities. That very reason was why I initially recommended taking samples of the destroyed entity for future reference and study. Lore talked that one into attacking your father Data. Dr. Soong and his wife fled that entity from Omicron Theta. It seams to suck up all life and leave nothing behind. So if the entity was destroyed how do we now have shifters of the same life basis? Do they come from the same solar system or planet? Maybe Guinan had a point about the retaliation part. We destroyed the entity, and now beings from their home world or system have come to harm us."

Everyone paused and stood in silence remembering the terror the entity caused on Melona IV when it killed Colonist Davila. The planet seamed to be a virtual paradise of lush trees and grass, so they started forming a colony there. It had abundant sources of food and water that stretched over the entire surface of the lovely planet. Once the entity swept over and Riker came out of the caves to investigate once they were saved, it was nothing but rocky canons and mudslides. They ended up having to terraform the planet hoping it could be salvageable.

Beverly's face was flushed, "I already informed Star Fleet just before you came in about our results and sent them everything we found. I have a team working on establishing a test we can use to scan planets, ships, bases and every time someone is transported to identify if there are any traces of this kind and abundance of silicon. The trace is very unique and not found in any other life forms in this amount, so when they test positive we know there is a shifter. Then we can pinpoint were they are using a tricorder if need be."

Picard straightened his shirt and looked at the lab results, "Its hard to believe that the Crystalline Entity or beings of its kind can change form and shift into one of us. What is it Data?"

Picard had been the only one to notice that Data kept tipping his head from side to side almost every few seconds. "I have found something I need to disclose to you. I discovered a few things when I was still a captive of the Romulans and broke the code. I never told them I broke the code, and I tried to mislead them at the time." Geordi, Picard, Riker, Beverly, and Paulera took steps toward him while he was sitting at a terminal pressing buttons at what seamed the speed of light. Data finally stopped and sat still, "There is a section on the alien object that has the same sequence as the altered gene the Romulans put inside of Ba'el and Shinzon. It is the same that was found in Picard and Renee. When I broke the code, I read all the files."

"I found that the Romulans were responsible for the fire that killed Renee Picard, whose identity Shinzon has taken. Shinzon has assumed his identity. He claims he is Renee and was just wounded and then taken into hiding. The family pretended he was dead to protect him. You do not know how close to the truth that is. When they cloned you Admiral Picard, they found the altered gene in you, and altered it again somewhat with a Reman gene. They then put it into Shinzon hoping it would give him more abilities. When you, along with the others, received the recorded message from the ancient humanoids that Galen was working toward, it brought the Romulans into one of Galen's files. Within that file, one Romulan group found that he knew in your family line carried an altered gene. The group that cloned you spoke to the group with the file and Galen's notes. They then sought to see if anyone else in your family had the altered gene. It was found in Renee. They had an operative in place to kidnap him, but his father Robert foiled the plot and they both were killed in the fire."

Picard was stunned and could do nothing but glair at Data for a moment then found his thoughts spoken, "They had my DNA. Why would they need him? Why would they take him?"

"Apparently, when the plan to use Shinzon was stopped, the Romulans in power at the time had everything destroyed to cover their tracks incase you ever found out. They believed that Shinzon was already dead in the mines and never thought to ask if he was still alive. They only kept the one file that Shinzon found and had it heavily encrypted. In the file, it said they wanted Renee to eventually have a male child with Ba'el and create it to have accelerated growth. They also planned to put the Reman gene they put in Shinzon into Renee and Ba'el's child. They believed the offspring of both of them with the altered gene would produce a boy with superior mental and physical capabilities. They were then going to finish the deal they had with a few Betazoid and Vulcan scientists. They listed the female as being Vendalla. It appears there was a child that is Vulcan and Betazoid who carries the altered gene also. With Spock's help, we discovered that the child was indeed, Allisa. Next on their agenda would have been to impregnate Allisa by the boy of Ba'el and Renee to create a combined child with some type of special abilities." Data concluded to everyone's astonishment.

Paulera who had been determined not to speak or interfere was the one to recover from the news first, "The child would be Human, Romulan, Reman, Vulcan, Betazoid and Klingon. Did they think they could recreate the ancient humanoid and all of their combined abilities, or just create a new super warrior to replace the Remans if need be?"

Riker stopped rubbing his facial hair with a look of mischievousness, "Who knows what they were thinking and they left out the Cardassians. Well, I would probably leave them out." He smiled and tipped his head as he got an eyebrow raise from Picard. Riker could not let the idea slip by him. "What if it happened naturally now anyway? Shinzon and Allisa have a child. Ba'el has a child with lets say Worf, and then those two kids get together...hmmmm interesting. Just makes me think of a report I did on Kirk's enemy Khan with his genetic engineering and eugenics experiments."

Q leaned forward and pointed at Riker, "Yes, Riker is not without his flair for keeping it light and humorous. Took them long enough to figure that one out. I suppose I will have to leave a few subtle hints." He turned to look at his guest. "Did I ever tell you of the time when I made Riker a Q? I also made Deanna's mother, Lwaxana Troi, a Q as well for a short time. Alas, she wanted to marry me, and I am already claimed."

He took his guest away from the globe they had been spying on the Enterprise again with. "I can't take any more of this. That poor little girl and Kellea." Leila wrapped her arms around herself and started to cry.

Q put his arm around her and whispered, "Its ok little one. We can fix this problem. That is why you are going back to talk to them, and together we can all bring Kellea and the others back. There that's better, just think of the family safe back at home, and that's where we are going to put them. This is the real place in the timeline everything is happening second by second. Ok, now you are up to date. What is happening in this timeline, is exact from the moment I took you from yours, what do you think of them?" Q's gypsy outfit disappeared and he was dressed as an old English sheriff. He vainly stood in front of a large golden mirror that appeared. The glob and mirror along with them were transported to an island paradise on the edge of a beach.

She looked at the globe then back to Q trying to detach herself from the picture of Kellea, "They are interesting, but are you sure this world we have been watching is real? Is this just a dream? I mean, flying all over space in ships and wild aliens out to get each other and all. My mom would tell me stories about the Q and the Enterprise, but I always thought it was just a tale until I got dad's note the day they disappeared. At home on Kapellia, they value their home and only venture into space to exchange goods between two other planets. There is an author who has in the last few cycles of the sun written about a great ship that explores their galaxy, but how would he know that? He calls the series of books, Star Quest."

Q smirked at his guest, "My dear Leila," Q thought of another lovely female who Spock knew by that name, "I knew you liked fictions about space. I thought it would be suiting if you were introduced to the idea of the Enterprise from someone other then your mom, so I whispered into the dreams of a writer. You live two galaxies away from this one. Lets not forget that your mother was Amanda Rogers and lived among these humans and upon the Enterprise. She was born on Earth by two Q parents with powers who would not return to the Q-continuum. I came to get your mother, and she later married your father, who is the nephew of the Q who took away my powers then gave them back to me. You are without any Q powers in part because your mother and father after being warned countless times came across your home planet you live on now. They helped them with something beneath them when they were given direct orders to let it go. That was how your family's Q powers were taken, and you were all given Kapellian anatomy. He assumed your mother's human last name. You know I always thought she missed being human, and he never liked being in with the Q. He found it tedious to have phenomenal power. He never had an interest or passion in his long Q life till he met your mother. He told me one day that

"Surely her golden hair sparked life into a dormant vast waste of the universe and fiery suns appeared bringing warmth to existence." He came alive when he fell in love with her."

Leila Rogers remembered years ago when her parents disappeared, "They had a very happy life together. I know they were well loved by the planet's inhabitants because they saved the planet from two comets that were about to collide and kill all life there. When the Q took their powers away, they also changed us to be the people of that planet, so we would fit in. That's what my mom always told me when I was younger. It was so strange when they disappeared. I know I haven't asked, but dad left a note saying I could ask the Q who would come to me one day what happened to them if they do not return within a sun cycle."

Q had been avoiding the topic until he could show her about humans. "There was a war in the Continuum, and they were told about it and volunteered to join the cause. During our wars, we are in a way made mortal to keep the fighting fair, so it does not go on for all of eternity. Part of what we were fighting for was the right to leave the Q and have our powers taken from us without being hunted and killed. They fought in order to save your life. During the last battle your father and I was overcome, and your mother was the only one who could come to our aid. She sacrificed herself to save us both along with several others. Just before your father rushed to her side, he told me to come for you and to let you know they loved you very much. Your father then tried to save her, and he was killed also. The Q-Continuum has a slightly different infrastructure now and allows for transitions and assisting races lower then us if we are beholden to them." All of the usual sarcasm was relinquished from Q's voice, and he looked very solemnly at the young lady. He remembered the countless times he had intervened for humanity and was clever enough not to get caught.

To human standards, on Earth Leila would be 38-years-old, but at the planet she was on and the biology of this race, she was considered still a child. Q pondered, to the human eye she did not look a day over 23 because once a Kapellian reaches their adult status their body will not start to age for about 200 Earth years. On their 239th birthday in Earth years their body will start to shut off over the period of a half of a year. At the end they have a sleeping ceremony, and they simply fall asleep. Everyone knows when they are gone by all color in their eyes disappears. She still had another cycle of the sun before she would be considered an adult and capable of establishing a family of her own on Kapellia.

Leila stood looking at Q with a few tears in her eyes. "They went to fight to save my life. The Q were really going to come and kill be just because I existed? And in the end they died trying to save each other along with saving other Q." After a while of sitting with Q feeling the wind from the ocean surf swirl her dark raven hair, she started to feel hopeful again. "Thank you for telling me what happened to them so many cycles ago. And thank you for showing me about Earth, the humans and other beings on the Enterprise. Am I going back to Kapellia now?"

Q put his arm around her, "Oh, I'm not done yet. Would you like to help me deliver a message to the Enterprise that will help them in their little dilemma with the shifters?"

Her violet eyes shimmered in the sunlight and deep within her, she relished the thought of being around the people her mother spoke of. Everything he had showed her felt like the fulfillment of a promise from child hood. She beamed happily in the fact that her family was from the Q origin, and her mother had been a part of space exploration. She felt her pale violet skin deepen with a rush of energy of the primal need to know more. "A secret mission in a distant galaxy to save the people my mother lived among when she was young...will I go? YES!"

She jumped to her feet from relaxing on a low hanging tree looking out into the ocean. Excitement took hold on her as she jumped at Q and wrapped her arms around his neck giggling happily. She released his neck, but grabbed his arms with her delicate hands, "Yes, I want to go. Can I call you uncle Q?"

He recalled he enjoyed it when his child called him papa Q when he was younger, "Very well, you may call me uncle Q, but not around the humans. Here read this little book, it goes along with my sheriff outfit. I'm afraid your violet skin and eyes will not match the setting, so you can watch here from the globe."

She flipped through the pages and wondered at how this ancient Earth story about a man who robs from the rich to give to the poor has to do with the modern day Enterprise. "I get it, you're the evil sheriff right?"

Q stood up and took her hand gently in his, "Something like that. I'll be back in a flash."


	2. C2 The Quest Begins

**C2 FS: The Quest Begins**

Leila turned all of her attention on the large crystal globe set before her after she took a sip of the fruit drink Q left for her. Shapes started to take form from within it, as she had a notion it was where Q was going to talk to the members of the Enterprise. There seamed to be a large gathering of people talking about archeology and findings on the Tagus ruins. She smiled with joy as she noticed a few crewmembers names she knew from speaking to her mom and Q showing her around.

She watched with interest as Q kept himself invisible and walked through people. He passed up several tables and walked to one side of the corridor. He seized a very attractive human male by the arm and pulled him out into the hallway with little resistance. Q then waved the back of his hand at him like he was shooing a tiny insect, and the man vanished. Leila leaned forward to get closer to the globe to try and see where he went. Q stared up at her and tipped his head subsequently vanishing in a flash of light also.

She heard a noise behind her that sounded like a muffled voice. Thinking it was only Q, Leila whorled around in her white flowing dress with a large smile on her face. "What are we going to do now?"

Her jaw dropped when she seen the man that Q had made disappear while at the gathering. What shocked her most was the fact that he was staked out in the sand laying on his back. His wrists were stretched over his head and tied together where a chain attached them to a stake. His legs were bound in the same fashion. He was now wearing a pair of bright red cloth pants that tied at the waist and nothing else. "Who are you?" A second later she leaned to the side and noticed he had a cloth gag on his mouth.

He started pulling on the restraints, and they held well. He kept making muffled sounds, and she walked closer to remove it to see what he would say. Surly Q would not mind her talking to him. It was not like she was releasing the ties on his wrists or ankles. She stood over his body and seen a paper note attached to his pants. Leila looked directly into his eyes noticing they were bright green, and he had short brown hair.

He was looking at her with a certain fascination noticing her light violet skin contrasted seductively with her midnight black hair. He shook his hands and tipped his head to his hands. All he knew was one minute he was at the gathering next an invisible force took him from the room. He woke to find himself tied up at a beach with an exotically voluptuous alien girl.

Not about to do what he was implying by his movements, she took the note off of his pants. As she removed it from a metal clip attached to the pants, she noticed his eyes were only slightly open and closed completely when her fingers pressed down on his thy. Fascinated by the first human she had come into contact with she looked over his body seeing that both humans and Kapellians were similar in biology. The main difference to her was the tan skin of the human that did not have any markings. She, on the other hand, had markings on her forehead that started there and went down the sides of her face all the way to the backs of her hands. In her race the markings on the skin were always the identical color of the person's hair.

Leila took several steps away from him and read the note: _Keep an eye on this one. He was being very naughty indeed. P.S. Do not untie for he will lie._

Perched a little ways from him on a plush indigo chair that appeared, she was appreciative of the huge light blue canopy that flashed into existence over her. There was another note handing from one corner of a wooden table that was the next thing to flash into place. She read it as well: _Have a bite to eat. Relax and enjoy._

Relaxing was not something she was use to. As nothing but conversation was taking place in the globe, she thought over her life after she entered school. Just before Q arrived she had just finished her education to be an Earth's equivalent of a marine biologist. She spent 5 cycles of the sun to get her degree to work out on the ocean, which is roughly the equivalent of 10 Earth years she decided from what Q had been telling her. As is their custom, children go to school when they are in their 14th cycle. They then spend 5 cycles studying then take a half cycle off for relaxation and job placement. So when they are 19.5 cycles old (39 years) they join the work force, have their permanent adult bodies, are considered adults and can get married. Yes, it was time for her to take a break. Surly Q did not mean for her to amuse herself with the man did he?

She scanned over the table for some snack to eat. While noticing that Q had all the food labeled with the human names, she picked a few strawberries and put them in a bowl. Leila glanced at the man tied up and seen that beads of sweat started to form on his face and chest. She would have to tell Q to get him a canopy of his own.

The globe was alive with new things. Leila let out a giggle to see them in Robin Hood outfits. Apparently, the one called Geordi was playing a musical instrument and not that good. She leaned away from the globe when she seen Worf walking toward him. Would the Klingon, who were known for being animalistic as Q mentioned, hurt him for the lack of talent? To her amusement he only took the instrument and slammed it into a tree only to hand it back and say, "Sorry." Leila dropped a few strawberries on the ground at watching the interaction. "Q can you hear me? Can I join in? I want a costume."

Q arrived with a flash. Along with him there were three women wearing dark blue swimming bottoms and nothing else. She mused that the girls were there to fan him as he acted like a god in his realm. Leila stared at them knowing they were human. One was light skinned with blond hair, the second was olive skinned with slanted eyes and the third was very dark skinned with wavy hair. She wanted to ask them questions about Earth and the diversity of cultures. She could only wonder at what type of marine life lived on Earth. She felt a little disheartened when they did not even make eye contact with her.

He did not even acknowledge they were there at all, so Leila pretended they were not there as well. She also found it amusing that Q's eyes kept glancing at their exposed breasts as the tied man did to her. So men are not that different when it came to sexuality attention spans on other worlds, good. She stood up and moved a fan to get her strawberries she found she loved.

"No, it would not be wise for you to jump into the game." Q paused and the fan flashed out of Leila's hand.

Her jaw dropped for the second time since she arrived on the beach. "What? I wasn't going to...what do you mean?" Her face looked a little darker, and she glanced at the girls with the fans.

"I mean you should not be in the game I am playing with Picard. Did you know if I did not tease Picard about love before he met Adije that he would not even consider dating her? I watched the timeline and seen he never marries and regrets it. That is why I came here, so he will make the opportunity later to have a real life and be in his precious Star Fleet at the same time. These ladies are from Risa by the way." Q waved one of the half naked women to retrieve a refreshment plate for him. He watched her walk to the table with his eyes firmly upon her swaying hips. "How is the captive?"

"Oh, he just lays around doing nothing. " There was a devilish gleam in her eyes, as she could not resist a giggle at Q's roaming eyes. Was this Q trying to behave in front of her? "You might want to let him have one of these tent thingies. He looks like he is forming a river with all that sweat. What are you going to do with him?"

Q walked over to the man he had taken and Leila followed. "Your not very nice are you Darien? Did you really think no one would see that you intend to end the party with a bang? Yes, I am the one who took you from that little party. Can't have you blowing up important people especially when there was a very good chance they were not going to find your plan in time."

"You were going to kill them all?" Leila's face started to deepen in color, and her eyes appeared to be glowing as she glared at the man tied to stakes in the sand.

"Calm down, he was doing it in the name of his family. One of the men there had killed his brother about two years ago. He was trying to revenge his brother, but he could have gone about it in a one to one basis instead of blowing the place up." Q gave the impression of being unconcerned and blinked a canopy into existence.

"That does not excuse murder, but you must have loved your sibling very much." She followed Q back to the globe to watch the Enterprise crew.

"Now, I am here observing myself as well, see." Q pointed to himself talking to Picard and Vash about playing along with his game of the story Robin Hood. The blonde girl took up the plate of fruit and started feeding it slowly to Q. He waved his hand at the other two girls, "Why don't you two go for a swim. And not to worry, I sent all of the unsafe oceanic life away."

"You have already done this? Does yourself from then see the you from now? " Leila was becoming engrossed with the things unfolding in the globe.

"Yes, to the first and no to the second. I keep myself invisible, so I can fix things that did not go as planned back then. One of the things I did that was right was getting Vash out of there. She liked Picard, but he was starting to love her. If she stays on the ship, she gets them involved in a dispute of her thievery and they have a bloody war with the Klingons."

"When do I get to go there?" She did not look at him, but touched her finger to the globe and drew circles.

"We will have to finish here first, then I will take you to a place in time where you can help them in the future with the shifters. By the way, Darien is harmless so don't be scared of him or anything. I will send him back after the meeting is over. I have already left a clue for a security officer to find his bomb." Q did not even say good-bye but flashed and was gone again.

Leila watched Picard jump in and out of situations then she took notice of Darien. The dark haired girl asked the blonde if she should feed him. "That will not be necessary. I will feed him myself." She wanted to talk to him and see what she could find out.

Leila filled a bowl of strawberries and a silver goblet with water. She kneeled next to him, and he raised his eyebrows and made a grunt sound. While removing his gag she spoke, "My name is Leila. I am from Kapellia. Are you hungry?"

He licked his lips that were dry from the gag while looking her body over again, "Yes, you could say that. I would love some of that water."

She tipped his head to help him take a few sips of the water as she asked, "Where are you from?"

"A little planet from nowhere. But you are the most gorgeous creature I have ever been in the presence of. Honey those eyes could hypnotize. Not even in my dreams have I imagined such exquisiteness. Thanks for getting me the canopy to block the sun, that was very kindhearted of you. Did he say how many hours I would be here like this?" He tipped his head to the side for a prolonged glance at the girls walking on the beach and took a deep breath.

'Does that work for him, slipping a line to interest females into conversations with flattery? It was rather gratifying and sweet.' Then Leila felt slightly annoyed that he was eyeing the girls and not keeping his full attention on her. 'And it seams that he also tries to make females jealous also hu?' She was not used to a man acting bored with her appearance and having to look at others, but the women were practically naked in this case. "Strawberries? They are very delicious." She intentionally used a sensual voice and took a small bite. There that should get his attention her eyes seamed to convey.

And she was satisfied when his face froze in an expression like a man who found a sanctuary within a wasteland. She held the one she took a small nip out of in front of his lips. He held still, and she outlined his lips slightly with the fruit then permitted him to nibble on it. Then she shocked him and herself, by kissing him slowly on the lips. She would have to add kissing a man who was staked out at the seashore to her list. When she ran her fingers over his bare chest, he let out a low growl that made her pull back to gaze at him.

Darien inhaled a deep lungful of air, but this time it was not from boredom. "Why don't you ask the girls to come over and then we can all sample fruit mutually? And how about taking that dress off and giving us a dance...naked." The grin on his face seemed to broaden as his eyes squinted smugly as he nodded his head and winked an eye.

"Are you utterly absent?" Leila stood up and dumped the remaining berries on his face. 'What was he thinking? I may have kissed him and feed him, but that did not mean I would prance around naked. And I'm not about to invite the girls to spring on him. If he wants all the girls, I will be not say a word, but I will not be any part of it.' Leila decided to just ignore him and send one of the girls to finish feeding him instead.

"What? Is that such a bad idea?" His facial expression let her know he thought she was over reacting to his proposal of a merrymaking group beach frolic. "Go on then little miss prissy a. Women like you take all the fun out of a situation. Thanks for nothing."

Leila felt insulted and kicked one of the poles the canopy was suspended by. The entire thing collapsed and the fabric covered him leaving the outline of his body tied under it.

"Ok, I'm sorry. Come back. Lets make up. Its ok if you just want to kiss. But you can't be selfish, you have to let the other girls in on the fun." He looked up at the sun through a torn spot in the fabric, and it just about blinded him. In a not so smart move, he attempted a haughty look at the assembly of women that only caused them all to laugh at him.

Leila smirked mockingly and selected some blueberries. "Girls he says he's sorry. Ahhhhhh poor thing needs attention from every girl in the immediate area. Lets give it to him."

Darien started licking his lips again. "Now that's more like it. Come on girls."

"Oh, you're going to get it for sure. Sample this." She started tossing the blueberries at him from her chair, and the other girls joined in.

When they ran out of those berries, they started throwing kiwi after sinking their teeth into it taking a bite out. The kiwis hit him and the juice was getting all over him as it drained down his neck under the fabric. Q walked up behind the girls and startled them as he heard the other man yelling in distress.

Q stood in front of the girls. "What's going on here? He looks like a worm poking his head out of an apple." He then spoke in an almost melody to the girls delight, "A little pain? A little torture? Are you girls using him as a juicer?"

Leila held her stomach and laughed heartily and gasped for air as she barely got the words spoken, "A worm poking his head out? Juicer?" The girls joined in with her laughter till they were almost breathless. "Well, you're the one that tied him up. Good thing you only gave us fruit to torture him with and not whips, but he already has chains." She tried to control her laughter as she wiped tears off her face, but fell out of her chair when she seen the pouting look on Darien's face.

Q waved his hand and every thing disappeared. Leila gasped and clutched to his arm as she realized they were in space. "It's ok. Look what we found, a Federation Star Base. Now, I want you to only tell them what I told you to say and perform your part. I'll come back later and check on your progress. Remember to relax and to pick one of the officers on the Enterprise."

A large area of the space station opened up and allowed Leila to float inside the command center of the base. People were falling backwards away from the walls that were gaping open to space, but nothing was being sucked out into space. Her waist long raven hair was swirling in what appeared a breeze that captured the fabric of the black dress she wore. Her hair appeared to mingle with the dress creating an illusion of having wings. Once she was standing on the floor looking very much a Gothic princess of the underworld, the walls closed back up and all damage was fixed and no one was hurt. The captain of the star base took a step closer to her and struggled for words, "Who are you and what's going on?"

She spoke decisively, but in a feminine style while smoothing the sides of her dress, "I am Leila of Kapellia. I have traveled from two galaxies away to speak with your people. I need to be taken to the U.S.S. Enterprise immediately." She relished the entrance that Q gave her into this realm that was excitingly very foreign to her. She also absolutely loved the dress Q and the three Risa women helped her pick out. It was perfectly black, and the bodice was taut with a low neckline that drew attention to a large gem that hung from a necklace. The gem itself looked like a star going nova and exploding outward in color like it was blinking. The bottom part of her black dress was in long sections, so her legs peaked out from different places with every purposeful footstep.

Leila conversed with Admirals and diplomats over communications, but kept insisting on the Enterprise. Finally they acquiesced to her request and wondered at this new alien that lived so far away. Many of them admitted to each other that they had indeed never seen a lovelier girl in existence. She was pleased to find that the Enterprise was not that far away from the station. They had just got Picard back aboard the Enterprise. He had been kidnapped to the surface of a planet as the Tamerians attempted communication.

A message was sent from Star Fleet Command to the Enterprise that was still near El-Adrel IV. An Admiral told Picard to expect Leila from Kapellia who was from a couple of galaxies away. He was briefed on her shocking arrival and request to only converse with the crew of the Enterprise about her reasons for being there. The Admiral conveyed to Picard the magnitude of the discovery of such a girl and to get as much information from her as was achievable. She was then put on a ship that would drop her off with the Enterprise. When she entered the first star ship, she went to her quarters. Leila used the computer to learn all she could about protocol and basic facts Q might have left off.

Leila was not accustomed to people treating her like royalty. Once her parents disappeared, friends of her father on the planet adopted her. They took her to a region that was away from immense cities and where no one would identify her. She kept mostly to herself until her third cycle at school. Every night before she went to sleep she would hold her father's note with her eyes closed and remember there days together. Now, every eye was upon her wondering who she truly was and from what magical place.

She received a message in her quarters and reported to the Captain's Ready Room. When she entered, she was introduced to Ambassador Sandoval who is a Lumerian of some importance as of late in the Federation. Leila tried to decline the offer, but in the end accepted. He was from then on assigned to her to assist her with anything she required. She then returned to her room until it was time to transport to the Enterprise. Leila did not like his fake persona of being a helper, because he seamed to be a bloodsucker under the surface.

Once inside the transporter room, the officers said farewells to her and the Ambassador. Sandoval started droning on with the intricacies of transporters. The excitement was about to explode from every inch of her body, and she could not stand anymore talk from the dominant Lumerian any longer.

She tried to speak as if bored, "Enough." She put her hand up palm out to him and walked by him to the transporter pad. Leila smiled warmly to everyone who came to see her off and the gesture was returned.

Q told her that only Troi and other trusted members would be permitted to get hints of her feelings and no one else. Leila felt pleasure knowing that Lumerians were telepathic and he could not read her. Q also told her if she needed any help to grab the gem on her necklace while thinking his name, and she would be transported back to the beach.

Someone was speaking to her, but she did not hear at this point, as she knew the officers of the Enterprise were awaiting her arrival. After all the tricks she watched Q play on them, she understood it was worth the little aggravation of Q popping in. Leila was delighted that she could repay kindliness to the people who had assisted her mother. She felt a tingly sensation all over her body as the room she was in started to fade before her eyes. Once the room was undistinguishable there started to be forms reappearing. Energy shot up her spine. She was aboard the Star Ship Enterprise.

Hey what do you think so far? I had to wait until getting the first fiction out of the way, before I could put these things into words.

Anybody have any thoughts on the apple/juicer comment by Q? What about the fact that a man was staked out in the sand on a beach? I just could not pass up on those two things.

I had envisioned Leila's entrance while sitting watching my little black kitten, Precious, watching birds out the window. What ya think? Feel free to be honest.

Smile,

Leia


	3. C3 Deception Embodied

C3 FS: Deception Embodied

The shimmering around the room faded as Leila materialized on the platform. She grazed over the officers who had come to welcome her in their dress uniforms she supposed. The Ambassador and his assistant walked ahead of her to the group who were standing in a line along the wall of the room. Shivers of excitement and anxiety swam over her body as she found it difficult to even breath.

Her eyes were flared with a violet fire that consumed the room with curiosity. She became aware that the heat coming from inside her excitement had caused her skin to heat and turn a deeper violet. This reaction was from looking into Picard's eyes in person for the first time. Leila tried to control her body, but in the end just felt embarrassed and hoped they did not know why her skin darkened. Then she noticed Picard appeared to be having difficulty also as she seen the skin of his face flush a pinkish color. So they had the same effect upon each other. 'Fascinating,' she thought. 'If I kissed him right now, could I claim it was a way of greeting? What a stern and controlled persona he displays, I could mess him up a little.' She started picturing running her hands over his shoulders and biting him on the lip.

"Leila of Kapellia, I would like to introduce the Captain of the Enterprise, Jean-Luc Picard." Ambassador Sandoval was making hand jesters and speaking in that fake voice Leila hated. "Here on Galaxy Star Ships there is a chain of command that is followed..."

Leila lowered her head for a moment as she noticed he was about to go into one of his speeches again that could last over an hour. 'That man is a menace.' She had an expression on her face that said he was an idiot. "I know who he is, and I would hope his leaders already told him who I am." Leila turned to the Ambassador with a slight hint of aggravation showing in her eyes.

Picard noticed on the ends of her delicate hands that large pointed nails started emerging. She didn't even notice she was flexing her talons out like a cat would do. He debated on stepping in and trying to advert the situation, but her talons gave him pause.

'Can't I have a moment's peace without this man blustering on?' Then she remembered in her quarters of the other ship, she read the protocol of introduction from an Ambassador. She would have to play along a little for propriety sake. "I appreciate your duties, but they will not be needed here at the moment. On my planet, it is disrespectful for an outsider to step in while introductions are being made one to another. If it is all right with you, I would like to introduce myself and speak to these people directly." She stared directly into his eyes with a superior look on her face, and he only looked back and did not answer. Leila noticed his assistant, Doran, started to smile knowing he might have wished someone would shut him up.

"Of course Lady Leila, as you wish." Ambassador Sandoval bowed to her with great extravagance. Others may have enjoyed with eagerness his flourishes, but she found them exasperating.

She turned back to Picard. "Leila is my name and I except you as an equal." She held her hands out with her palms up.

Picard took her lead. "Captain Picard is my name and I except you as my equal as well." He held his hands out with palms up.

Leila lifted her hands and turned them over. She then placed her palms onto Picard's palms. "Thank you. Would you show me your officers and your craft?"

Picard smiled politely and held out his arm for her to hold. Leila paused and held her arm out. Picard tucked her hand in his arm. He introduced William Riker, Deanna Troi, Worf son of Mogh, Geordi La Forge, Doctor Beverly Crusher and Data. Then Picard took her on a tour of the Enterprise showing her everything of interest. She was especially interested in the holodecks, so he helped her create a program of a garden just for fun.

When they left, the ambassador went to his room to report, and the others went to Ten Forward lounge. As they entered, Riker could not help talking to Geordi and Worf at a separate table as Data, Deanna and Beverly sat at the bar with Guinan behind it.

"What do you suppose those three are talking about?" Beverly asked Deanna with her head tipped to see the men leaning together talking quietly.

Deanna took a glance then spoke with a voice of sarcasm, "Oh, probably the latest addition to the ship."

Data tipped his head to one side and squinted his eyes. "Are you referring to the Kapellian, Leila who just arrived?"

"Yes, Data. Hello Guinan, have you ever seen or heard about Kapellians before?" Deanna took a light green drink from Guinan.

"No, I don't think so. What did she look like?" Guinan inquired.

"Commander Troi?" Picard's voice sounded over her com badge.

"Yes, Captain." She looked slightly up over the port window.

"Would you be able to accompany Leila and myself to Holodeck 3?"

"Certainly Captain, on my way." Deanna gulped down the last of her drink, "If you all will excuse me, duty calls."

On the other side of Ten Forward about thirty minutes later, Riker was giving his take on the new alien race. "I have never seen any female as lovely as her. Her violet skin is the color of sunsets in Alaska, and her glowing catlike eyes sparkle like diamonds. What did you think Worf? I thought I heard you growl a little when she beamed aboard." Riker let out a little chuckle, and Geordi shook his head.

"I thought she seemed to be very honorable in her conduct. That black dress, talons and the manner in which she moves, puts me in mind of Daktor's dreams of the Hunting Goddess of the Night."

"What jumped out at me were her necklace and her legs peaking out from sections of her dress. I guess with a woman like that I don't have a change. I'm not complaining don't get me wrong. I'd be happy just to be in the same room as her. The dinner is tonight right?" Geordi tried to think of when Picard would be showing her Engineering, so he could conveniently show up even though the senior officers had the afternoon off.

Riker leaned forward noticing that Beverly was watching them. "Non of us have a chance it looks like. First Vash, now Leila seams to hang on his every word."

Geordi had stood up to go to Engineering, "What do you mean?" Then he sat back down.

Worf stuck his chin up a little higher. "Vash was the woman that Picard had his vacation with on Risa after Riker had him pick up a souvenir. Now, Leila called him her equal, what do you suppose that means?"

Riker had a gleam in his eye, "I just enjoyed watching her control herself not to shred the ambassador's with those large talons she has."

Worf's face looked as if he was on his way to a battle, "I have no doubt she could have slashed his neck, and he would have been dead before his limp body hit the ground. She definitely could be a predator to be reckoned with if she looses control when provoked."

Geordi laughed, "Yea, I kind of seen that in her eyes. He must have been talking non-stop on their trip over here or committed more of those disrespects. She seams to find protocol and dancing around topics to be tedious."

They continued to discuss what they thought of her for another 15 minutes, and Geordi started thinking they should be close to Engineering. Geordi turned to look at the door as Picard and Leila swept in, "Speaking of the goddess."

Picard introduced Leila to Guinan who conversed over the types of foods that Leila liked. Geordi walked by them and nodded his head with a smile.

"Oh Geordi, I have a few things I have to attend to. Would you be able to show Leila the Engineering section? After all, I was just telling her what a great Chief of Engineering you are and would probably be better at answering her questions."

Geordi could not believe his luck. "Yes, that would be lovely." He took her arm and escorted her out of the room as he flashed a glance back at Riker and Worf.

Picard walked over to Riker and asked him to go with him to his Ready Room. Once there, Picard sat down and gestured for Riker to do the same. "She is very charming, but can we trust her?" Picard acted like he did not know Riker was in the room.

Riker wondered why he had passed the beauty off to Geordi and became worried with the stern look on Picard's face. "Captain, is there something wrong?"

"Yes, I believe so. I had Troi come to the Holodecks to see if she could read Leila and see if what she was telling me was right. Leila told of a problem, and then we spoke of it in front of Troi. Apparently, the Crystalline Entity that was befriended to Lore, is planning on destroying the soon to be colony on Melona IV. And not just the colony, but it will also kill all of life on that planet. I talked to Troi in the hall after Leila made a garden program and went to explore it for a moment. Troi said she feels genuine concern for us coming from her. She said she also felt as if Leila knows a lot more about us then she is letting on to. Deanna thinks we should do as Leila has asked." Picard turned and looked around the room at his hologram fish tank and watched them swim for a few seconds.

"What exactly does she want us to do?" Riker leaned forward onto Picard's desk and looked serious.

"She said the only way to stop the entity is to put a Horta on the planet near the colony. We need to have a Vulcan mind meld with it first and tell it of the situation with the entity harming life in our quadrant. She further said that if we do not then a doctor would destroy it causing hundreds to thousands of deaths on every planet in our quadrant. And there is one catch, we can't inform Starfleet about what we plan to do until it is done." Picard leaned back in his chair and folded his hands.

"Why a Horta?" Riker still looked stunned.

"She said because it is a silicon based life form and can talk to the entity openly. Leila said the beings know each other already."

"How would people on all the planets be affected by one entity being destroyed?" Riker started to feel suspicious and wanted to talk to Leila himself.

"Leila said she could not tell us. She said the less she tells us the better it will be." Picard stood to his feet and intended to go talk to Guinan again.

"Are we keeping this information only with the officers of the Enterprise? It couldn't hurt to have a Horta next to the colony digging around. If doing this saves lives and Deanna is mostly sure of her intentions, I am all for it. I think I will have a talk with Leila after the dinner and see what else I can find out." Riker stood up as well and they both left on the turbo lift together. While on the lift alone, they talked about keeping everything from the ambassador, which would not be easy.

Once Geordi finished the tour, she headed back to the holodeck. Leila had the computer lock the door to anyone who might try to enter. "Computer, create a pond similar to the ones on Earth. I want it placed on the north side of the garden. I also want it to have a small waterfall and around the waterfall to have rocky edges with the water only as deep as my shoulders. Oh and lots of animals, plants, clouds and mist please."

The computer complied with her request and she sat on a rock with her feet in the water. "What a wonderful place Earth must be." She watched the birds that Deanna programmed as they sang and flew overhead. There was what Picard called a deer that walked up to the water and took a quick drink then ran off into the forest on the other side of the pond. Leila leaned back onto a slab of the rock that helped form the waterfall and seen a little white rabbit hop in front of some yellow flowers. It scampered right up to her and smelled her leg then jumped back into the garden.

At that moment, clouds started covering the sun to some extent and allowed sunbeams to shimmer down into the water. Mist started forming around the water. She decided since the door was locked, she could take a swim. Leila removed her clothing and set them on the rocks out of the water's reach. She stepped to the edge and seen little fish swimming around. She then untied her long black hair from a clip she was using and jumped while turning at the same time, splashing into the water.

She swam to the bottom of the pond and a feeling of euphoria over took her. The light from the sun and her necklace's gem shimmered on the plants on the bottom. Leila reached out and touched some of the plants that swayed in the current of the waterfall and the stream that flowed from the pond. She surfaced and inhaled another breath of air. She took off her necklace; afraid she might damage it, and set it on the edge of the rocks. After that, Leila went back down to her sanctuary. Feelings of tranquility seamed to be swimming with her in the crystal clear water.

This time she saw little fish peaking out from behind the plants. She tried to giggle and only little bubbles escaped her lips. Remembering Q's words to relax, she allowed her body to completely relax. She started floating to the surface feeling completely caught up in her holographic creation's peace. The freedom of the water and the calmness of nature seamed to hold her floating body. She could feel the sun shinning on her as she came to the surface. With her eyes closed to the sun, she started to do a back swim to take her under the waterfall.

"There you are my Lady Leila. Have you been enjoying yourself in the holodeck?" Ambassador Sandoval was standing at the edge of the water on the rocks that she had jumped off. He was evidently trying to look at her body under the water.

"Leave me at once. I did not let you in here. I locked the door." Leila covered her bare breasts with one arm and reached her hand to where her necklace had been. She scanned the rocks for her necklace and seen it next to Sandoval's feet.

"So that's your secret. I was walking by looking for you when I started to hear your thoughts. When you took off your necklace, I could see inside your mind that you know about us shifters and are implementing some plan against the Bringers." He picked up her necklace and let the gem dangle under his fingers. "Your charm on your necklace had stop me from reading your mind. What else can it do?" He was impervious to her demand for him to leave as he took her clothing and tossed it farther away from her.

She became enraged that he was gloating at taking her gift she got from Q and was spying on her as she swam naked. Leila immediately hid her mind from his grasp and allowed him to only feel her fear. It was a trick a friend from school had taught her a cycle ago. 'One slash from my talons should finish him off, but that would be murder. Well, I could just hurt him a little and get my clothing to get out of here.' At that moment, her eyes fixed on a dagger that was in his hand. Leila backed away to the other side of the pond.

"No, you're not going anywhere my pet. I know who you are, but you don't know who stands before you. I am not the winded Ambassador Sandoval. I am from Symtalia. I am one of the Bringers Keepers, and you don't belong here. I can only imaging what you told them about us." He walked around to the other side of the pond and put the necklace on. "Come over here to me."

"No, not until you tell me your true name and what you want. Who is the Bringer?" She stuck her chin out defiantly and started flexing her talons under the water hoping for a chance to disarm him.

"For such a slender female and a naked one at that, you act as if there was a chance you will escape me and yap questions at me. I have always admired the Kapellian spirit from afar, so I will answer you. My name is Celm. What I want is to put you on my ship, so when I follow the Bringer home you can be my entertainment. And as far as the Bringers go, they sustain life on my planet and give us what we require to live. I believe here they call them a Crystalline Entity." Celm shifted shapes into Data. "Now you will come with me to transporter room 2, and we can get underway."

Leila looked around in the woods behind the shifter then looked Clem in the eye. "Very well, I will go with you as long as you promise not to harm anyone on this ship. " At that, Leila stepped up onto a rock in the water revealing her uncovered breasts. She seductively brushed her long hair out of her face and rested her arms on the rocky edge showing her talons were not flexed outward. She continued blinking her violet eyes slowly.

In that instant, a bright red butterfly landed just above her right ear and flexed its wings. Celm had never seen a sight more fascinating as the naked Kapellian dripping with water, posed for him almost invitingly. He wondered why she would willingly offer herself in exchange for him not harming the people on the Enterprise. Then he remembered that she had asked for this ship by name and decided to take her at her word. And what succulent lips she had that spoke those words, he could not wait to get her back on his ship and kneeled down for a kiss as he held the dagger at her throat.

Clem shifted into a very light blue skinned being with long black hair hovering over an angular face. His eyes became slightly larger and his fangs showed with his smile. He spoke in her mind, "This is the true me. Don't fight against what I am about to do." He skimmed her lips with his own then let his fangs nip at her neck as he homed in on the place on her neck where the dagger was that he longed to taste. The next thing he knew was total darkness.

"Are you alright?" Picard set the tree limb down he bashed the shifter in the head with. He started inspecting Leila's neck, as there was a small trace of black fluid that he guessed was blood where the dagger had been. The bleeding had already stopped.

She wrapped her arms around his neck, and he lifted her out of the water. It was only then with her sitting at the edge of the water in his arms that he noticed she was completely naked and clinging to him with her face pressed against his chest. "Computer, I need a swimming robe." It appeared next to them, and Picard wrapped it over her shoulders.

Picard stood up slowly very aware of the contours of her body. When she stood up, he noticed the fact that her nipples were not circular like humans, but in what looked like a star burst. He noticed he was staring and quickly covered her up and tied the robe at the waist. He placed his com badge on Clem. "Computer beam the person wearing my badge directly to a holding cell and activate the force field. Worf acknowledge."

"Worf here." Worf was obviously not in Ten Forward, but in his quarters getting ready for the dinner.

"I have apprehended a shape shifter. I have had him beamed directly to a holding cell. I want him searched immediately and contact Star Fleet to let them know he has been assuming the identity of Ambassador Sandoval, Picard out." Picard still had his arm around Leila.

"Thank you, Captain Picard. He planned to take me back to the home of the Crystalline Entity. How did he get the door to this holodeck unlocked?" Leila was still a little shaken up and started mentally berating herself for taking off the necklace.

"Please, call me Jean-Luc. I know what he was going to do. I was listening. He used Data's ID to override the lock just as I used mine to get in when I realized the Ambassador tried to lock other people out. That distraction you caused, gave me the instance I needed to stop him. Leila, you are a very brave young woman. Are the Symtalia like Clem the danger that could kill all those people if we don't get a Horta to talk to the Entity?" Picard kept his voice low and soothing hoping to ascertain the threat of the new shape shifters.

"I should not be telling you this, but yes. In the future your ship destroys the Entity and the shifters come looking for it. When they learn it was destroyed, they start killing people on every planet even in the Br..." She stopped herself just in time. Q warned her not to let him know too much about the future, or it could alter it in a negative way. "Lets just say once the Horta is in place and communicates to the Entity, all those bad things will not happen. The shifters only attack when provoked, and then it is only when the Entity is harmed." She noticed once again she was without her necklace.

Picard seamed to read her mind and picked it up from the ground placing it on her neck. "There you go. Now, lets find your clothes?"

"I took them off in order to take a swim. I had no idea anyone could come in here once I locked it. And I did not even think to have the computer give me holographic clothing once he found me. Thank you, Jean-Luc. You are truly a gentlemen in every sense of the human word. There are not many men who would not try to take advantage of my situation here at the moment. My clothing is over there. Could you fetch it for me?" She grinned slightly and pulled the robe closer together around her neck.

"Certainly, I would be honored to assist you." He took a few steps away to where her clothing had been tossed, and he turned around to give them to her. To his astonishment she had already removed the robe and had her hand held out for her clothing. He averted his eyes, which took an immense amount of effort and held them out for her to get. She took them, and he turned around to look back at the garden and try to take his mind off of the lovely undressed woman standing dripping wet behind him.

"Jean-Luc, can you postpone the dinner until tomorrow night. I just don't feel like sitting with a bunch of people tonight. And could we have the dinner be an informal one some where else like here in the holodeck or something?" She walked up behind him.

He turned to face her thinking by now she must be clothed. It took him all of one second to see she was not. She ran her hands up his chest and started undoing his dress uniform. "I will go see if we could change it with everyone's schedules. And I will see _bare_, I mean I will see where we could hold it." Next thing he knew he was joining her in the pool for a swim.

Later that night, Q dropped by the ship to check on her progress. He seen Leila and Picard picnicking in a garden on a bunch of sultan pillows and blankets. "I guess she picked Picard to be the one to take back with her, good."

Then next day, Picard made arrangements to have a Horta communicated with and brought to Melona IV. Picard mused that everything was going smoothly as they were on their way to drop Clem of at the nearest Star Base to be questioned.

I always wondered what would happen if a strange girl landed on the ship. Guess I know now, ha ha.

Just wanted to say I was thinking of making one short chapter after this one. I have started a Stargate fiction and was going to devote my time to that. Then the amazing happened, a review that reminded me how important this continuation is to me. The story must go on.

Thanks for the review. I love hearing other people's words on my fictions instead of just the little voices floating in time...lol.

Yes, grammar is my evil nemesis. And being dyslexic sometimes slams me into grammar's little minions like comas and verb tense, haaa, ha. The only way I could fight them in college was to visit the all knowing English tutors...have to love them, bless their hearts.

Please review and let me know what is working in the story. Just love reviews.

"Start the next chapter already!" Did any one else hear that or was it just a voice in my computer?

Lets see what shall happen next. Oh, that's a good idea! Chocolate.

Smile,

Leia


	4. C4 Chocolate Distracts

**C4 FS:** Chocolate Distracts

After Picard made arrangements for the Horta, he had a meeting in the observation lounge with all of the usual officers. He fully divulged to the group what was going on with the Horta and the Crystalline Entity. There were lots of questions, and he did his best to answer them. He also took a few minutes to explain that Leila had spoke as if she was from the future. Picard conveyed to them not to try and pump her for information, as it could be dangerous to the timeline. In two hours, Clem was delivered to the Star Base.

The dinner was held on schedule this time. Leila shared their jokes and opened up to them. She spoke amongst them as if she had been a member of the crew for years. She was glad that it was more informal then the first arrangements had been. The appearance was obviously more pleasing as comments were made concerning the flower arrangements in the room. Leila explained the flowers were replicas of the ones on Kapellia.

"Leila, I heard you made a hologram program about an Earth garden." Geordi beamed with joy over having been placed on her left side for the dinner.

"Yes, it was a charming program." Leila raised an eyebrow at Picard that did not go unnoticed by the others at the table.

Riker seen the glance and started to wonder at what she meant by that. "It would be interesting if you could make one of your world."

"I have. It is already running. I asked the captain if after the dinner you could all join me to view it. He said it was ok. What do you think?" Leila seamed to flush with delight while hoping they would go with her.

It was only fifteen minutes until Deanna, Geordi, Riker, Worf, Data, Picard and Beverly were following Leila. They stopped at the entrance door as Guinan walked out. "Leila, all the fruit is in place. I put the outfits in the changing rooms as well." Guinan smiled at everyone and bowed slightly at the door as it opened, "Enjoy."

The group of officers walked into the hologram program and found doors. Leila pointed to the left, "Ok, all the women go into that room where your outfits await you. And all the men go to the right for your outfits." They looked at her for a moment then went into the rooms.

Inside the ladies changing room, Beverly and Deanna found the outfits they were suppose to wear and changed. They walked into the next room that had walls of mirrors and they critiqued how they appeared in the silky white material.

Leila came in around the corner and was pleased with the smiles on the ladies faces. "So are those smiles happiness at the outfits?"

Deanna did a twirl in front of the mirror. "I love the soft material. It feels as light as wind dancing on my skin. This halter top attaches just below my hips where the belt is. I like where the top comes down and widens to cover the sides of my abdomen, but I can't get the belt to attach, can you help?"

"Sure, the belt that starts on the sides of your hips is made to help hold the front in place a little better." She showed both ladies how to fix the almost imperceptible belts.

With her hands on her hips, Beverly turned once in the large wall mirror. "I like the fact the back is completely open all the way down to where the belt starts. At first I have to admit, I was worried the front would not cover enough and the back was going to be low enough to show my bottom. And now, the sections below the belt are overlapped making it feel like the folds of a flower all the way down to my ankles. I feel truly beautiful."

"And you look beautiful. Now ladies, let me clip the sides of your hair up, and we will be ready to pick a fragrance then join the men." Leila had just put her own dress on and joined the other two women looking at themselves.

There was a woman in the next room to help them select a fragrance by the mood they were feeling. Deanna picked Realms of the Wind, Beverly picked Beauteous Flower, and finally Leila picked Seducing Situations. The woman there to assist them rubbed the scented oil into their skin. Once the women were ready, they ventured out the exit in the back of the last room to find the men.

Oh, and what a site it was for them to behold as they entered the night. As they exited, they saw the men in their group. Each man had on what looked like black pants of the same material as their dresses that hung low on their hips. Like the ladies, they to had picked from the fragrances, but theirs were obviously masculine.

"The program I have made here is identical to a Gathering I attended a little while back. You have to be considered adults to attend, and I still have a half a cycle. A friend of mine got us codes that told we were a cycle older to get us in. I have different parts of the program running independently of each other to make it seem more real. Like the flowers I had brought to dinner, the flowers here have the same non-inhibiting effects, so you can be yourself. The point of the Gathering is to relax. Lets go relax and have fun." Leila turned toward where music could be heard and started trotting off.

The rest of the Enterprise group started after her noticing that the gravity was not as strong as in the rest of the ship. "Its kind of bouncy." Beverly commented.

Deanna glided along and found the plants that lined the path to be among the prettiest she had ever saw. The plants were about six inches tall and appeared to be some kind of fern. In the night's darkness, these plants that were bluish and glowing were the only lighting. There was another source of light that Deanna noticed first. It was little glowing orbs that seemed to float around the plants and trees.

From another prospective, the item so far that Geordi enjoyed the most was the soft moss that covered the ground like grass did on Earth. He had to fight the urge to role around on it. Picard and Worf in contrast kept looking off into the jungle of various trees and large shrubs. The low hanging mist in the forest made peering into its depths complicated. Picard finally kept his eyes on the path, but Worf could not be swayed from the hidden areas of the forest that seemed to be calling to him.

As they neared the Gathering, the sounds of musical instruments filled their ears. Riker had never heard such a combination of instruments and sounds. "The drums sound similar to a heart beating, but reminiscent of the music from ancient Africa. The string instruments sound like ancient Europe with an almost Celtic quality."

"I agree." Geordi grinned hearing the enchanting melody. "It sounds like there are women using their voices without words, but using their voices as instruments."

Leila stopped at a rise in a hill, "Ok, we are here. Now, remember you are here to experience a festival that is held on my planet. Don't try to understand everything or critique it. Let the atmosphere calm you or invigorate you whatever you need or feel." She stepped forward and pulled back several hanging vines that had tiny lavender and scarlet blossoms on them that seemed to be everywhere. Delicate white flower petals from the trees fell over the forest like feathers.

Riker's eyes opened wide like a child in a candy parlor. "The atmosphere hu? This kind of makes me thing about what I read in a file about ancient Earth in a place called Woodstock." He glanced at groups of Kapellians dancing around the musicians. Riker went to that group and joined in on the dancing. Before long, he was playing some of the instruments.

Beverly and Deanna went over to tables that were almost hidden. On the tables the women sampled the different dishes of fruit. Deanna was in a state of rapture once she sampled what looked similar to brownies in chocolate syrup. Her friend Beverly found herself swept away by a ruggedly attractive Kapellian that offered to show her to the swimming area in the exotically captivating forest.

Geordi and Data wandered into a group of Kapellians who were relaxing on the downy moss with pillows. The group was talking about various topics while giving out back rubs. Data seemed to talk nonstop especially interested in the minute glowing orbs he called them. A Kapellian told him that they were the keepers of the gardens, and he believed humans called them pixies. Geordi was oblivious to the conversation as he allowed a girl to rub his back while he lay partially on a massive pillow. It wasn't long before Geordi joined the girl dancing and later a long walk by a waterfall.

When Worf entered the Gathering, he was sure he would hate it and walked into some of the trees. He came across different areas of music, and groups of people holding hands. Worf stalked up to a grouping of large boulders and climbed to the top. After a few minutes of peering out into groups of people who seamed to vanish into the trees, he noticed it was starting to rain slightly. It was a soft inviting rain and from his viewpoint no one seemed to care. Worf stood to his feet and ran his hands down his chest to get some of the water that was beading up off of his skin.

"Going so soon?" An intriguing female voice floated across the gentle sensation of the rain.

He turned to see a violet Kapellian female in the same dress that the other women were wearing except hers was black like the men's pants. "No, I was simply going to venture into the forest.

"What a coincidence, that was what I was about to do." She climbed down the rock formation after Worf.

He went as far as the edge of the trees and vines then stopped. She came up behind him and scratched his shoulder with one of her talons as she walked around him. He growled a Klingon taunt at the sensation and seen the wild gleam in her eyes. She whispered for him to try and catch her then she took off. The effects of the plants must have been affecting him as he followed her into the forest forgetting he was in a hologram program. The chase was on.

About that time, Deanna had found Riker. He was tired from the dancing and allowed the effects of the music along with the plants to lull him. She seen him and tiptoed around him when she noticed his eyes were closed. Deanna dipped her finger in the chocolate syrup and dabbed it on his neck.

He opened his eyes and seen that it was his Imzadi, his beloved. "What are you up to?"

She lay across him and started licking off the chocolate. "I thought it was about time for some dessert." The light mist of the rain seamed to cover them as they rolled under some aromatic blossoms that were on the hanging vines. They were oblivious to the fact that they were not in a room all alone. All Deanna knew was the fact that her Imzadi was kissing her while at an enchanted planet.

Once Leila was sure the program had distracted the other members of the crew, she led Picard to a river's edge. "What do you think so far?"

"I think it is positively superb. I can't remember the last time I was walking around in a dream world." He traced her chin with his fingers and his other hand was on her waist. Picard gave her a gentle kiss on her pouting lips.

She sat down under a tree with her feet in the water. Picard viewed the beauty before him then joined her. Leila shifted into his lap as content as a kitten snuggling up in a windowsill to watch the birds in the trees. "I am sorry. Please don't over react."

Picard tipped her head to the side and let his eyes graze over her. The delicate white material was starting to stick to her body due to the sparse rain that was trickling down in a heavy mist under the tree. "What are you sorry for?"

Leila put one slender arm around him and held her necklace's gem with the other, "For this." She closed her eyes.

In a flash of light, they were transported back to the beach that she was at earlier. Q turned to look at his new guests, "Hello there, Mon Capitan."

Picard stood up while feeling a mixture of being tricked and aggravated. "What the He?"

Have to admit I wrote this chapter on my b-friend's porch as it rained. Any thoughts on the program she made? After making this chapter, I had to go eat something chocolate, ha, ha.

For the next chapter, I will have to see how the weather is tomorrow, maybe.

As always, please leave me your thoughts and feelings. Love Reviews!

Smile,

_Leia_


	5. C5 Back on the Beach

**C5 FS:** Back on the Beach

A/N: I have altered this chapter, so here is the revised chapter. Thank you very much for the reviews. Shinzon, yes, cannot leave him out (he might be in the next chapter).

"No, not He this is a beach." Q stated with a gleam of irony.

"What is going on here?" Picard sounded flabbergasted.

"A picnic or as you say a walk in the park. I need you to go to Leila's home world with her for a little. I will then send you back to your very important business." Q acted as it he was ordering a nice wine instead of kidnapping a Star Fleet Captain.

**On Kapellia**

They were both teleported in a flash of light as Q smirked at them.

Picard opened his eyes in an off white room that was rather large and almost felt like a garden. "Where are we?"

Leila looked nervously at Picard. "This is my room. Now that I am graduated from school, I have my own place. I believe I need to take you to the Explorium."

"What is that?" Picard had calmed down as he seen that Leila was nervous. He turned to her vanity and saw colorful hologram recordings of her past. One that caught his eye was of her as a young child with both of her parents. They were a striking family filled with obvious energy for life laughing with each other.

"The Explorium is a vast holding of information that has been brought from the far stars there is also some information of my planet's history. There is something in the database you must see for yourself. Follow me." Leila walked to a panel on her wall and held her palm up to it. Lights flickered on, and she spoke a command in her own language. The machine scanned Leila and Picard with a translucent blue beam and displayed the information it needed about them on the panel for inspection.

Leila was pleased and kissed Picard lightly on the cheek then spoke in words she had heard him use before, "Make it so."

In a wave of energy, they were teleported to the closest Explorium that was only a few hundred miles away. Picard gaped at the facility, which also felt like a Victorian garden. There were cultivated plants everywhere his eyes explored. Picard found the fabrics that hung from the walls to be make of a silken material as he lightly touched a piece of the rich green fabric. Leila took his hand as he almost stepped into a mirror that was placed parallel to a miniature waterfall that ended in a fish filled pond. "These fish have small legs." He remarked.

"Yes, I noticed the ones in the hologram program you helped me make did not." Leila unknowingly touched her hand to her hip where a recording of her hologram program from the Enterprise was stored in a pouch. What Picard did not know was that she had also recorded in the personnel of the Enterprise, including him.

The technology was all but hidden from the naked eye Picard mused. He followed her to a room that looked like a balcony behind more of that lovely dark green fabric. It seamed to over look a small patch of garden, but a screen was taking up most of the room. He then understood it was for a holographic projection of the facts stored. _What marvelous devices they have to use for studying history and other peoples._

"Ok, I'm going to access a series of information for you. Just watch and see." Leila was glad that she was giving him this bit of information he needed.

"What does this have to do with Earth and the Crystalline entity?" Picard started watching ships from Kapellia go to another planet and land.

He watched as the Kapellians were greeted by what looked like Vampires. The new aliens were taller and appeared to be a strong people like the Klingons. They exchanged items and the Kapellians were on their way. They went to another planet that was obvious farther away. Picard recognized what it was and gasped for breath. "That is a Dysonsphere close to their home world?"

Leila smiled, "Yes, the beings are called Remadds, but they are given different names by other peoples that sound similar. The Federation will come into contact with them later."

Picard watched the Kapellian ship enter the sphere and once again exchange items in a trade. The ship then returned back home using a different technology then Picard had ever seen. There was a burst of energy and the craft was dematerialized as if in a transporter beam. Within seconds, the craft was at the Kapellian home world.

Leila touched a few places on a hologram of a console that was on the balcony as Picard watched out over the expanse of a garden the things she typed in.

She brought up a disk and handed it to Picard. "This has everything on it you need to help the Remadds in the future. When you see beings like these who are searching for their home world, give this to them."

"Surely this can't be everything. What did Q tell you?" Picard turned and peered into Leila's sparkling eyes.

"No, this isn't everything. Q told me how my parents died in a Q war that will happen in your future. Soon you will meet my mother and help her, as I am helping you now. I was a Q when I was a child then my family was banished to the planet my parents helped. We were made to be the same as they were biologically. There are things I cannot tell you. I regret kidnapping you, but this gives you a way to fix several things in your future." Leila took Picard's hand and pressed it to her cheek. She moved his hand so she could lightly graze her full lips across the warm skin on his hand.

"Will this some how help save your parents?" Picard could see the pain just under the surface of her beautiful eyes.

"No, if I save my parents or try to stop them from doing what caused our down fall, millions will die I believe. Your own planet would even be in jeopardy without Q, possibly your entire galaxy. I was planning on asking Q for help on that." Leila had the appearance of seriousness that provoked Picard to want to know more.

"Q is more of a trouble maker. I doubt his absence would be disastrous. What do you know that makes you think this?" Picard now had both of her hands in his.

"Watch out over the balcony, I will turn the hologram back on." Leila stated after she kissed one of his hands and released them both.

Picard watched as Q appeared in the form of a hologram in front of Earth. He started talking to a race of aliens that looked more slender then the ones she had just showed him. The leader had long white hair and wild looking eyes. He held a hand up and Picard could see what looked like suction cups on his palm. The alien held his hand to Q's chest and nothing happened.

"You Wraith are all alike. Walk right up and suck the life out of everyone. So, you believe that humans and other beings not like yourself are just here for your food in the food chain. Well, let me tell you that all life in this galaxy is protected by the Q, and we are far more advanced then your puny little race." Q sneered at the life sucking being as it hissed at him.

"I don't know who you are, but how are you able to stop me from using your life source?" The Wraith leader hissed again at Q wondering what kind of technology could interfere with his feeding from his life-source.

"Because I operate in the fourth dimension. I do not need a physical body to live as you do. I kind of come and go as I please. Every life in this galaxy is under my protection and if you take even one life or go one foot into this galaxy, I will wipe out your entire race." Q leaned to the side as if he was unimpressed with the rabble before him.

"We shall see. Everything has to feed. These life forms you call humans feed on animals, and we will feed on the humans." The wraith was acting haughty.

"Very well, come with me." Q smirked. With a flash of light the Wraith leader and Q was gone. In a few seconds, they reappeared and the Wraith appeared a little haggard where before he was dressed immaculately. He bowed to Q and stayed that way until Q waved a hand at him.

"We are leaving. Our people will never return. You have my word and my vow." The leader was swiveling in fear as his subordinates looked on in horror.

"Oh, you will never come here or you will suffer the consequences I have shown you. I am a man of my word. Now, off you go." He waved his hand and the entire Wraith ship disappeared and in seconds reappeared at their home world.

The hologram program stopped and there was silence. Picard seen the state of Earth and knew that it was still in the pre-warp state when the killers came to claim it. _Q saved the entire galaxy from those Wraiths. _Picard continued to think over the ramifications of such actions by Q.

"Q is protecting our people?" Picard breathed.

"Yes, and he protects my people as well. The Wraith is an evil race that hibernates then wake and feed. They will continue to feed until all of the beings in their regions are in the threat of extinction. Q is also the one who told me to tell you about the Horta. In the future, as I have seen it without using the Horta to help, is a very bloody one for your people. The changelings of the Crystalline entity invade your worlds and start by only killing a few. I believe I heard you call them terrorists. I am honored to have been able to help avert this incident." Leila smiled and leaned forward to give Picard a hug.

"No, thank you for showing me these things." Picard held her close to him as he relished the warmth of her soft skin.

"Remember not to tell anyone of the disk I gave you. Only use it when you see the people I first showed you." Leila rested her head upon Picard's chest and relished his strength.

Picard stood holding the beautiful Kapellian thinking what might have happened to Earth if Q had not intervened as he had. _Only a hand full of humans on Earth instead of the Federation we have today. They would have feed on the Vulcans, Klingons, Romulans and all of the other beings that live in this galaxy. No one would have been safe. We would have only lived to be mere food._

"What else did Q show you?" Picard wondered out loud as he breathed in the sweet fragrance of her hair as he ran his fingers over the soft expanse of violet.

"He showed me alternate dimensions where things are different. Besides, seeing what happens with the changelings, I have seen people close to you die and you for that matter. In one, there was an ancient force that was released from the underworld into your dimension. It took over a woman's body as she tried to save her love." Tears filled her eyes, "One day you will find your true love, and she will be more precious to you then all others, even the Federation."

Picard released her slightly to peer into her glowing eyes. "You will always hold a very dear place in my heart. I know not of this love in the future, but know I care for you my dear one."

Leila gave Picard a light kiss on the lips and stepped back from him. "Thank you for the time we have shared. And thank you for your kindness to my mother, Amanda. Well, the kindness you will show her. Keep Riker away from her ok?" With a smile, everything vanished.

**The Enterprise**

Picard was back in the holodeck as if nothing had happened. He used the computer to try and locate Leila, but she was gone. He knew what he had seen was real as he still had the disk. When he asked everyone later, all they could remember was receiving information about the Horta and acting on it. He reviewed the hologram programs to find she had made one of herself in the garden he had helped her make.

Picard entered the program she made for him and it was a duplicate of the other. When he approached the pool, he saw a holographic figure turn to face him. It was Leila.

"Hello, I made this program for you. I wanted to say bye to you in case Q cuts your visit to my home world short." The hologram of Leila that was one hundred percent realistic smiled at him.

"We did get to say good-bye." Picard could not believe he was talking to the hologram as if it was his violet beauty **(Deleted Scene).**

Not much time passed until Q was back on the Enterprise. A glint of recollection flashed in Picard's mind when he remembered Leila thanking him for being nice to her mother who was a Q called Amanda. The young lady that Q was trying to take was that Amanda. _This is Leila's mother. What was that she said about Leila and Riker? I had better keep an eye open, two for that matter._

From that moment on, Picard tried not to influence Amanda Rogers in her decision.

Q entered Amanda's quarters and spoke to her for several minutes. He waved his hand and there was a violet girl in the room with them.

Q smiled, "If you come with me, you will have a daughter named Leila." He held his hand out to the violet girl and she walked over to his side.

"Mother? You look younger then the last time I seen you. And you're still a Q." Leila was trying to control her emotions. She seen Amanda hold her arms out, and Leila fell into them. "Oh, how I love you!" Once again, she was wrapped in her mother's loving arms and filled with peace.

"I will go with you Q. How could I say no?" Amanda held the young lady and started to wonder whom the man was that she married.

"One thing at a time. There is a problem in the future. Amanda, you and your husband will be killed, but I will go fix it so that will not happen this time." Q smiled warmly at both of the gorgeous women before him.

"Q, is there anyway you can tell me what ends up happening to Picard and the Crystalline Entity?" Leila looked up from the safety of her mother's arms.

"Well, you have to come with me back to the beach and wait there. Once I take your mother to the Q, I will come for you. Sound ok?" Q had a hint of an evil gleam in his eye at the thought of playing more tricks on Picard.

"One thing, is that man still tied up on the beach of the island?" Leila flushed darker and looked up at Q.

"Why, do you want him to be there?" Q tipped his head.

Amanda watched them both, "What man?"

**A/N:**

What do you think so far? Please Review!

I have another chapter in mind. Shinzon it is.

Smile,

Leia


	6. C6 Gone

**C6 FS:** **Gone**

Leila found herself along on the beach again. She was very exhausted form the entire ordeal and fell asleep in a hammock. It was the ending of a beautiful day when she woke for a few seconds and gazed at the brilliant colors in the sky as the sun set. A blanket appeared over her and she slept soundly. She dreamed of Picard and her mother. Could Q really find a way to fix everything or was Picard right that he caused more trouble?

The next morning, she woke to find Q zapping different outfits on then changing it to another. One second he was dressed similar to a Klingon then the waved his hand and he was clothed like a wizard with a tall pointy green hat that slumped at the top. His green cape was accented she noticed by a translucent kind of gold that shined like precious stones.

He turned and seen her, "What would you like to wear today my dear?"

"How about that outfit we seen on that blue guy." Leila did a twirl, as she was clothed in what looked like leather pants and a red cloth shirt. With her small frame and slender body, oh, how she liked the boots to stomp around in.

Q seen her pleasure at the outfit and turned to the magic ball once again that grew in size and landed upon a pedestal. Its resting place on the structure appeared to be a large dragon claw that held the orb in its palm.

"Ok, lets watch what happened after we helped them. By the way, don't worry about your mom and dad. I got some help from a friend. They will be waiting for your return." Q smiled slightly at her happiness of what he had just explained to her.

They sat in kingly chairs as the orb displayed the Enterprise and the happenings inside. Picard entered the bridge as a picture of the Crystalline Entity appeared on the display. Over the course of three hours, the Horta communicated with the entity about not disturbing the galaxy. There were moments after that time when Leila held her breath as the entity tried to attack the Enterprise. In the end, the Horta used an internal communication signal that wounded the entity, thereby reminding it that the Horta could in fact destroy it at will. The task was complete.

"There it turned out ok don't you think?" Q turned to Leila.

"Yes, everything is right now. It is leaving. Now, what happens when all that alien orb stuff happens?" Leila looked back to the large orb they had.

"Oh, the same as before." He waved his ringed hand at the orb and it shimmered to the event where they were transporting the alien object to the Denab system.

Leila giggled as a container of popcorn flashed into being sitting in her lap, and she seen that Q had one for himself.

Once again, she got caught up in what was happening in the crystal orb. Instead of people being wounded in the Briar Patch, the wedding was pleasant and without death. Leila knew that something else was going on when she seen the crew go back to the Enterprise as they had the first time. Surely, they had fixed everything and it was ok now.

She expected Picard to be happy at Chakotay and Seven having just been married, but he looked very solemn. "It's never easy for them is it. What's going on now?"

"Watch and see, I have a few things I have to do. I'll be back tomorrow ok. That should give you time to catch up on what is going on, and rest a little by the ocean." Q flashed out as she nodded at him. She heard his voice, but did not see him as he spoke again, "By the way, your necklace controls the viewing orb." And he was gone, vanishing in a swell of light off to go visit Vash.

Leila tipped the umbrella that covered her and the orb as she leaned forward to hear better. Her necklace glowed slightly and the volume of the conversation increased for her to hear, and she sighed at it working for her.

Picard stood up in front of Riker, Troi, Geordi, Data, Beverly, Wesley, Worf, Shinzon, Clintor, Janeway, Adije, Tuvok and Spock. "All that we know is that they disappeared some time after the reception. Has anyone found out anything else?"

There were several looks of concern as Geordi stood to his feet. "I seen them just as the reception was over when the music ended. They were walking together by the lake at the dam. I waved at them and they waved back, that's it."

Tuvok and Spock raised their eyebrows and spoke in unison, "In what direction were they walking?" Everyone looked at them as they sat across the conference table from each other. If it had been another time, the moment might have been humorous Leila thought.

Geordi paused and looked between them. "They were headed around the east side of the lake toward the new eating area. The ladies were carrying drinks."

Shinzon leaned forward against the table, and Picard noticed that he was exercising self-control. "Did they look stressed as they walked or were they happy?"

Geordi stated, "They looked happy to me. They were walking and laughing."

Worf spoke after a long silence in the group. "As soon as they were discovered missing, I had the exit to the Briar Patch blocked. Every vessel that left was searched three times before it was allowed to proceed."

Troi put her arms on the table. "There was a large number of Betazoids and Vulcans who worked in teams in the search effort in order to detect if anyone knew anything. We came up with nothing."

"So they are still here or the ones who took them got out before we noticed they were missing." Spock commented in a very dry tone to which Tuvok and Janeway acknowledged.

Riker shook his head and looked at Picard. "Where could they be and who would take them?"

"Are we certain that they are not just lost in the forest or something?" Clintor spoke.

Adije brushed her long hair out of her face, as it was apparent to all that she had been crying. "I had everyone on the planet do a search, and Wesley helped with a scan."

"What kind of a scan?" Tuvok asked with his hands folded on the table.

Data spoke up. "Wesley, Geordi, Clintor and myself created a device to scan for their specific gene alteration that Picard has. For that matter, they are in a small group of people who have the gene alteration. We are also working on a hypothesis in which that is the very reason why they have been abducted."

"The gene alteration that I have, each of them has as well." Picard spoke out loud the thought that was formed by Data's words.

"That is correct. We believe that they were targeted for that very reason and anyone else with the same gene will also be at risk." Data concluded.

At that second, Maiden ran into the room stumbling over his own feet.

"Mr. Maiden, good of you to show up to the meeting. Where have you been?" Riker asked his number one officer on the Enterprise.

He was out of breath and leaned on a chair as he spoke in rasps. "Paulera and Ba'el are gone!" He started choking and could not get his breath.

"Yes, we know. That is why we are having this meeting." Picard spoke while looking annoyed at Maiden for interrupting the meeting and having been late.

"No, you don't understand. Allisa is gone too!" He finally leaned forward and used the chair to support his weight.

Shinzon was out of his chair in flash and holding Maiden by his shirt. No one knew he could move so quickly, it was almost defying logic at the speed he moved. "Where is she?" His voice reminded Picard of when they had been doing battle when Shinzon, who is now called Renee Picard, was commander of the Scimitar.

"I went to your house to get her as Picard asked and that is why I am late. I looked everywhere. I even used Data's new scanner to try and find her. She is gone." Maiden started to try and get away from the now crazed Shinzon. "Renee please, let me go."

"Yes, Renee let him go. Worf alert the barricade at the exit of the Briar Patch. We will find them!" Picard straightened his shirt as he stood.

Shinzon released Commander Maiden with a shove. His eyes were bulging slightly and his temper had obviously been put back in check. The steely sound in his voice caused several in the room to shutter as he spoke next. "We will bring the women back and kill those who took them."

**A/N:** Shinzon, back in action.

Please review; I hope you enjoyed the new chapter and thanks for the reviews.

Smile,

Leia


	7. C7 Call to the Hunt

**C7 FS: Call to the Hunt**

**A/N:** I know Shinzon, oh sorry, Renee is supposed to be all good, but he is still Shinzon after all. And someone has taken something that is his. They took his one true love (Allisa), his ex-girl friend (Paulera) and a girl he thought to have an affair with when he first met her (Ba'el).

**The Enterprise**

Shinzon stood at the door of the room and watched everyone inside. He saw the two Vulcans plotting scenarios and plans. Worf was punching buttons and barking at security officer on different channels. Picard and Riker were almost whispering with Geordi and Data about the hypothesis they formed. Troi, Beverly and Wesley were standing at a wall console plotting about hand held scanning devices and detectors placed on all transporters. Clintor, Janeway and Adije were scanning reports from the surface and the checkpoint at the exit of the Briar Patch.

Janeway walked over to Picard and pulled him to the side. "Jean-Luc, I just received a report that the transport taking Stupinshin to his court martial had an accident. He was killed along with three others."

Picard leaned forward to whisper to Janeway. "He may have been causing problems on my ship when I was still the captain of the Enterprise, but it saddens me to hear about his death. How is his wife?"

Janeway blinked a few times then turned back to Picard. "She was deployed to another post, but she left Star Fleet when her husband was killed."

They were plotting to do the things they could. Shinzon seen their determination and felt their resolve to find the missing women. He touched his medallion and tried to feel where his woman was. With no luck, he knew the people in the room were doing what they could and walked out. He stormed to his old quarters only to find that Troi was using it as a garden for helping her patients. He then skulked to Transporter Room 3.

Shinzon ran headlong into someone and both people stumbled for a second. Shinzon peered daggers into the eyes of Sergio. "Watch where you're going?"

Sergio was stunned to be face to face with who he knew was Shinzon. "I am trying to get to this secret meeting they are having. You need to stay out of my way."

Shinzon admired the boldness he seen in Sergio that he had no idea was there before. "I just came from that meeting. They are doing everything they can. You need to leave them alone, so they can find the women."

Sergio's face blazed with crimson fire in a heated anger. "Do not tell me what to do, Shinzon. You look like someone has 'SHI-ON your head, no wait, that's hair. Out of my way, now Shitz-on!"

Shinzon flashed with anger and raised up his right hand. He used the telekinesis of his medallion, given to him from Adije and Picard, which helped heal him from his temporal-RNA problem. Sergio was raised into the air about a foot off the ground and slammed to the wall. Shinzon strolled over to him and flipped one of his fingers. This caused Sergio to strangle for a moment then he was released to the floor.

Shinzon blazed with a voice he remembered using when he spoke to Picard a long time back about echoes and the voice, "Never insult me again, human or it will be the last breath you ever draw." He then saw Sergio huddle on the floor with tears in his eyes.

Shinzon heard him whispering, "Paulera my love, where are you?"

Shinzon still felt annoyed with the man, but could not blame his audacity a moment ago. He too was in turmoil. "I did not mean to wound you. Be comforted, they are doing everything they know to do."

Sergio stood up to his feet and grabbed Shinzon by the collar as he pulled him to his face. "You're so smug. It's not your woman out there with some psycho taking her to god knows where and doing god knows what with her!"

Shinzon dug his fingers into the shirt Sergio was wearing and ripped little places where his nails made contact. He pulled him even closer. "Yes, it is. They have her."

Sergio tried to pull away as Shinzon was drawing blood from his shoulders. "Paulera is mine now. We love each other and are to be married next year. How dare you to presume to still claim her as your own."

Shinzon pinned him to the wall with trickles of Sergio's blood dripping on his hands. "You idiot. They took my Allisa too!" With that, Shinzon let him go and stepped back.

The veins on his neck were bulging as the thought of some mad man harming his delicately kind Allisa burned in his mind. The woman who had saved him from the He that was his existence and showed him what it was to truly love with your entire heart was gone. Shinzon started turning where he stood becoming completely lost in his rage. Sergio watched him knowing now that his own pain and Shinzon's were the identical.

Shinzon clenched his fists and flexed his arms. The furry consumed him as he raised his face up to the ceiling and let out a tremendously agonized gut-wrenching cry. The force of his emotions with the power of his medallion shook the entire ship momentarily as the dampeners strained to control the trembling of the ship. Shinzon's heart felt as if it were bleeding every drop out on the floor as he heard his own voice in his ears. He dropped to his knees and pressed his fists to his face smearing Sergio's blood and his own where his nails dug into the flesh of his palms.

In the same instant back in the conference room, Worf was losing his control as well. He was talking to a security officer over a channel and did not like what he was hearing. His sensitive Klingon ears ready for the hunt heard a roar in the distance. Worf rose to his feet, slammed several glass objects including a water pitcher to the ground, and added his own voice to the raging call of the other. Everyone in the room watched as they heard Worf's voice mingle with another's from out in the hall as the ship shook.

Worf raged out of the room and everyone followed him. Within a few seconds they came across Shinzon kneeled on the floor with a slightly bloody Sergio leaning against a wall.

Picard stepped forward. "Worf, control yourself. Shinzon, Sergio? What is the meaning of this?"

Sergio's eyes slowly met with Picard's. "We understand one another."

Picard and Riker remembered that when Shinzon was introduced back to the officers of the Enterprise. Worf and Shinzon had to fight and get bloodied in order to become allies. And so it was with both of the men who's women were taken from them.

Shinzon rose to his feet with notable blood marks on his hands and face. "Do what you can to find out how they were taken. The Zabre is near. I am leaving to find where they have gone."

Beverly who was in the back of the group handed a scanning devise to Spock. He held it for a moment and nodded his head yes. He in turn handed it to Troi. She took a few steps forward toward Shinzon. She held out the device that could scan for the missing women's gene alterations. "You have said before that you are sorry for what happened between us and with the Remans and the Enterprise. I felt in your heart that you were sorry for how you behaved. You said that you owed be personally for what happened between us." Her eyes filled with tears and Riker placed a steady hand on her shoulder. "Take this to find them and all will be forgotten. You find our treasures and bring them home whatever the cost."

Shinzon was pleased to hear that Troi, who had hand picked Allisa to take her place on the Enterprise as ship's counselor when she left, had finally forgiven him of mentally invading Troi's mind to have access to her body.

Shinzon took the device and glared into Troi's usually tranquil brown eyes. His voice came out in an almost whisper of the tip of a blade. "It will be done." He then glanced at Picard, "Some things are worth dieing for, aren't they Jean-Luc?"

"Yes, some things are." Picard answered the challenge.

Picard peered into the mirror image of himself within his clone's eyes. Then he heard a voice coming from behind him. It was Janeway, "Do what you must do. I will turn it in as a top clearance mission."

Riker wrapped his arms around his wife as they watched Picard, Shinzon, Sergio and Worf stomp away for the Transporter room.

They rematerialized aboard the Reman Scimitar Class Attack Vessel that was an almost duplicate to the Scimitar except without the thalaron weapon. The ship was called Zabre. Kunak was the reigning captain, and he welcomed Shinzon aboard. Kunak was pleased to see Picard with him and read his thoughts about the other men with him. They would hunt to the death. Shinzon remembered it was the same vessel that brought Kunak and Vernaka to the Enterprise when they told him of their plans to find their home world.

Leila leaned forward while staring vigilantly into the orb to watch Shinzon. She started remembering how the changelings tried to kill Shinzon. That was the moment she realized cause they got the Horta involved that the Changelings never made an attempt on Shinzon's life. She then rewound time in the orb to watch how Picard and Shinzon greeted the Reman's.

**Time Rewound to where Shinzon told Picard about the info from the Romulans and the Remans were arriving to talk to Shinzon (Full Reverse).**

Leila watched the past as Shinzon and Worf fought. She saw the arrival of the Remans in the Infirmary. She was pleased to see that the doctor was not a changeling as the other dimension showed. She fast-forwarded to a conference Picard and Shinzon had with Kunak who was Shinzon's new Viceroy and Kunak's wife, Vernaka.

"Yes, I understand your desire to find the Reman home world, but you need to go to the Briar Patch to heal, Shinzon. The medallion is only a temporary way of using the technology Adije uses that acts like the rings of her planet. If you are separated from the medallion for any reason, you will die."

Shinzon looked into Kunak's mind and spoke to him, "He is right. I want to help lead the search for the planet and be healed finally."

Picard smirked, "Yes, I know."

That was the first time the Remans understood that Picard had a medallion on as well. Kunak then spoke out loud, "It would be best for Shinzon to heal. You said it might take a year for it to be complete. We believe this is expectable."

Picard closed his eyes for a moment then opened them. Kunak and Vernaka were removing their cloaks. He was stunned by how lovely and surprisingly humanize Vernaka appeared. He stood to his feet and gawked at Vernaka for a few moments.

Kunak did not like the way Picard was looking at his woman. True that Reman females resembled the male counterparts, but were also very voluptuously toned. He had seen many males of diverse species drool over the appearance of Reman females, but he did not expect Picard to be one of them. Reman females when coupled with a Reman male of or after the growth age empowered their spouse with telepathy. Kunak knew that Vernaka's crystal eyes were capable of hypnosis and delved into her mind to make sure she was not intentionally tempting Picard. She was not.

Picard found himself staring and looked down at his hands. "I am sorry for my reaction, but seeing both of you here together reminded me of something. If you will excuse me, I will return shortly."

They tried to see into his mind and were unable as they had when they first arrived.

Fifteen minutes later Picard returned with an old photo album. Shinzon recognized it as the one with Renee's pictures in it.

Picard opened it to the very last page and ran his fingers over the back cover. Leila smiled as she seen what he had hidden inside it. Picard pulled out the devise she had given him that stored the information about the race her own home world of Kapellia trades with on occasion.

Picard cleared his throat as he still concealed the item he had found to be so dear to his heart as a remembrance of Leila the violet dream of his past. "I was taken from the Enterprise a long time ago. I never told anyone or entered it into a single report. It seems things that happened were erased from existence and people's minds. I was shown things and given this. I was told to give it to the people who I was shown things about when I would run into them in the future. I believe that time has now come."

Picard placed the item in his hands on the table in front of Vernaka. It was a metallic device with a symbol on the top of it.

Vernaka gasped and her hands flew to her neck. She seen the symbol on the device was the same as the one on her medallion she had been given by her grandmother. She was told as a child that it held the knowledge to find the way back to the ancient homeland. She had guarded it with her life and several other's had died to protect her as she wore it in the mine holding cells.

Shinzon's old viceroy, who was now dead, had been the one who asked his woman to protect her with her life if needed. And it had been needed and her life had been forfeit. That was how Kunak had come to meet Vernaka when Shinzon had rose up to challenge the Romulans. It was on the fateful day when the Reman males had revolted to save the females of their species from the Romulans. Kunak had made it to the two females, but not in time to save the one. He took Vernaka and guarded her until help came.

Vernaka grabbed the device on the table with one hand and edged it closer. She ripped the medallion off of her neck and placed it on top the similar symbol. Nothing happened and a cry escaped her lips.

Picard remembered something Leila had said to him and leaned forward. "Vernaka, hold the pieces together. Kunak, now place your hands over hers."

They did so and a flash of blue energy emanated from the device. It caused to form above them, a holographic display of the star path to travel to their home world blinked into existence. Vernaka's heirloom had been the key and their combined powers had been the catalyst to make it work.

Kunak and Vernaka set it down on the table thereby turning it off. Kunak grunted, "It is more than a galaxy away. It would take us forever to get there."

He ceased talking as a small symbol on the device glowed red and started flashing.

Picard traced the symbol. His eyes flashed with understanding. "I remember this symbol I believe. If I am correct, this is a beacon. I remember seeing your people's ships being sent out to explore. When they were done, they activated this and larger ships came to take them home. The larger ships like the other race I encountered who were a purplish color, has a technology that can dematerialize ships and send them at extreme rates to other parts of a galaxy."

Vernaka leaned closer to Picard. Her hauntingly seductive voice flowed over the room. "Do you mean that they can detect this and come for us?" Without waiting for an answer and not expecting one she continued, "I wonder how long it would take them to get here. Maybe we could send a ship with the beacon in the direction of our home world to meet them. What do you think?"

Shinzon and Kunak answered in unison, "Let's go."

Vernaka raised her hands. "No, we need you both here to protect our people in this time of upheaval. Could we send another ship like ours with a crew that has a record of Remus to go out to them?"

Kunak shook his head and spoke with a deep icy tone. "She is right. With both of us gone, the Romulans might take the advantage. They do not know that Shinzon is alive, but I have become the leader of our people. Very well, it shall be done." He turned to Picard with the usual Reman icy appearance like a vampire about to pounce, "We are thankful and indebted to you for your assistance. Without this device, we would probably have never found our true home."

Picard remembered how the Remans discontinued attacks when the Scimitar was destroyed. They could have possible still destroyed Earth, but did not. He had also learned that Remans put a high standard of protecting family above all else. They may have had conflicts between clans before, but considered every Reman to be one and the same. "We should consider things even and a good start to a better relationship between our two governments. The Federation has no wish to control you or enslave you. We only wish for peace and continuing pursuits of exploration and knowledge. I have told Shinzon, and I would like to explain to you as well. I consider Shinzon to be my family. I protect those I consider my family with my life. You are his family and that makes you my family."

Kunak and Vernaka answered as one. "So be it."

Leila leaned back in her chair and was pleased at how things turned out. She ate some strawberries and directed the orb to once again return to the present time. In a blink, it was showing the real time of the Enterprise and the Zabre.

**A/N:** Well, it had taken me since the last story Full Reverse until these chapters to show what Leila's devise she gave Picard, Vernaka's medallion, the Dysonsphere that Scottie found then saved himself in the transporter conduit and the Reman home world had in common.

Took me long enough, oh and even I don't know where the ladies have been taken, but then again neither does Leila.

Please Review, I hope you enjoy!

Smile,

Leia


	8. Chapter 8 First Steps

**C8 FS 'First Steps'**

**A/N:** After thinking for a time about how to go forward, I thought it best to go forward in the words of Picard, "Boldly go where no man has gone before."

**Aboard the Zabre**

Leila watched what was going on with Picard more intently as she sat in Q's made up beach world. She may not have been able to help Picard or Shinzon, but she could wait for a chance to when Q came back to her.

After leaving the Briar Patch with the latest in reports, they set off onboard the Reman Zabre.

That morning, they were guided to the Strategic Center just next to the observation lounge that gave a lovely display of the stars. There Kunak briefed them on the progress of their other ship that had been sent out with the beacon Picard gave them that linked to Vernaka's medallion. The ship had apparently been intercepted by other large ships then vanished. After a description of what the larger ships looked like, Picard assured them they were the ancient Remans he had seen long ago with the help of Leila.

Shinzon was pleased with the new turn of events, but he could not let the picture of his love Allisa in harms way escape his every waking and sleeping moment. "Now that is settled, I would like to bring up everything we know about the kidnappings. Has there been any new information we were not apprised of at the Briar Patch?"

Picard reviewed from a terminal as Kunak did the same thing. Sergio was with a Reman called Keatol he was assigned to work with concerning energy signatures to mayhap catch a glimpse of a course to follow. Worf on the other hand was assigned to Gokile where they were granted the task of planning advanced strategies and defenses.

Hours later, they converged and divulged all they had found just after taking a break for nourishments.

Picard began, "I have a report of a Ferengi vessel that was not accounted for. It is not around the planet, and there is no record of it having left the Briar Patch. We must assume it has left the Briar Patch."

Kunak leaned forward on a pattern buffer unit, "Agreed, It was also suspicious that only one male Star Fleet officer went missing. He worked on the Enterprise in Engineering the report states. What do you know about Breck Gold that might apply to this?"

Picard grimaced, "He is an engineer that always completes tasks on time and for the most part keeps to himself. There isn't anything extraordinary about him in fact."

Worf grit his teeth then spoke, "That alone speaks for itself. He may have been working with the abductors. It is hard to believe they took an engineer who does not have the gene alterations just for fun." It was obvious to everyone that Worf was moment away from another destruction explosion.

Picard straightened his shirt, "Worf, Gokile, it is imperative that you discover where the Ferengi vessel was going as it left the Briar Patch."

Shinzon who was sitting still as a statue, "Yes, lets find these greedy gremlins and see what they might know."

Kunak joined Worf and Gokile after he spoke, "Yes, Praetor, it will be done."

Picard was about to go back to the files when Sergio started laughing.

Shinzon glared at him believing Sergio had finally given into the fear that Paulera was gone forever and was loosing his mind, "What is your problem?"

Sergio looked at Worf who was glaring at him also. Sergio spoke as if in a trance, "The day we went for the walk. The day…"

Picard walked over to Sergio and placed his hand on his shoulder. Picard then spoke, in round pear shaped tones, "Tell us about the day."

Sergio sat down at a panel relay. "Worf, do you remember a long time ago when you joined me and Paulera at a meal? You were with Geordi. You ordered prune juice while Geordi and I were talking about funny things in engineering."

Worf peered up at the ceiling for a moment then opened his eyes wide as he spoke, "I remember it was the first time I heard voices and that high pitch noise from the alien device."

Shinzon could not resist, "A high pitched noise, was it a dog whistle?"

Worf growled at Shinzon then remembered their talk on the holodeck when they fought then made friends. That day, Shinzon had insinuated during battle that Worf and the other Klingons were puppet dogs for the Federation. "No such luck. It would seem in the end there were no pets, just warriors on an honorable quest."

Shinzon and Kunak smiled, if that was possible, Leila thought as she watched that interactions.

Sergio then smiled himself, "So you remember at least part of that day. One of the things we laughed about was the fact that Gold had torn his pants while working in engineering. When they tore, his under shorts were exposed for all to see."

Worf shook his head, "It was told that his under garments had swords and pink dragons on it. It was a sores of humor and amusement."

Sergio turned to Picard and Shinzon, "During that meal, Paulera talked about her life as a Trill and the different hosts her symbiont was in. That was the first time I found Paulera truly captivating. Maiden came over to the table and talked about Stupinshin trying to get rid of Clintor the new Chief of Astronomics. Geordi said something about him being as tricky as a Ferengi. He also said that made Stupinshin as happy as a Klingon at a Betazoid wedding."

Worf remembered the jokes that were made after everyone knew that he did not want to go the wedding naked, as was tradition. He had not cared that it was a way of displaying one's true self with no subterfuge in the joy of the married couple. "It was not amusing then and it is not amusing now."

His statement caused Picard, Shinzon, and Sergio to laugh. They were on an urgent mission, and it was good to relax in a moment of humor even for the briefest of moments.

Sergio stopped laughing, "I remember how upset and steaming Gold was that he was being talked about. He isolated himself even more after that. I also remember him asking about Stupinshin a few times. He asked me not to mention it to anyone."

Shinzon clawed at the panel of the computer as he typed in a few things, "Gold did not want attention, but asked about Stupinshin. Stupinshin got into trouble with all his trickery and ended up court-marshaled. Gold is now the only man missing along with the three ladies. I want to find the Ferengi vessel, Gold and Stupinshin."

Picard leaned forward, "I can tell you where one of them is right now."

Worf and Gokile braced themselves to plot in a course when Picard spoke the destination. They also wanted to find who was in the area along with hundreds of details.

Picard looked at the floor then back up at the group who were intensely watching him, "I know that Stupinshin was on the way to the court-martial when there was an accident, and he was killed. His wife then left Star Fleet, and we have no idea where she is."

Keatol broke his silence to speak in a slow hissing like manner, "Very convenient."

Shinzon felt a pulse of energy within, "Track the Ferengi, find me information about Stupinshin and his woman, and I also want information on that Break Gold. This may not be as difficult as I first surmised. I have some things of my own to look into. Notify me if you find anything else of interest."

Shinzon left the room and headed for his own quarters. He retrieved the scanning device that Troi has given him that could locate the gene alterations of the missing women. The range was not that far, but he was about to see if he could use the power of his medallion, that Adije gave him to amplify its effects. Shinzon gripped the device and activated it, nothing happened. He clasped the device with one hand and his medallion with the other and concentrated on Allisa.

The intensity of his concentration caused his body to shake under the strain. His mind was flooded with images of the past where his love had looked deeply into his eyes. Within moments, he started to feel her presence. As his strength weakened, the device blinked a location. Shinzon was consumed with the rage that he could not contact her telepathically and collapsed to the floor. In the last moment before his strength failed him, he thought he might have looked into her mind for the flash of a second and spoke her name. His strength had faltered after the immense strain using the combined abilities and the device sucked from his mind and body. Shinzon was unconscious on the floor.

Picard and Kunak were on the bridge an hour later checking some of the scans that Sergio and Keatol had done. Kunak tried to contact Shinzon with no success and tried again.

The communications channel opened as they heard Shinzon whisper, "What?"

Kunak could feel that Shinzon was having problems. "Are you alright Praetor?" He looked at Picard and was concerned his illness had returned then seen in Picard's reply the answer that the time Shinzon spend in the Briar Patch had heeled him fully.

Shinzon's voice reached out over the com-channel like an eagle talon catching its prey, "Full Stop!"

His command was carried out. "I will be there in a moment." Shinzon's com-channel closed, and they were left to wonder what was going on.

Shinzon entered the bridge looking tired. No one commented on it as his eyes were filled with fire and wrath. "Take this and have them do a scan of this area that is lit up. It is a vast area, but maybe they can detect the Ferengi vessel if they focus on this area alone."

Kunak took the device and had it taken to Sergio and Keatol.

Worf and Gokile arrived on the bridge an hour later appearing hungry for the chase. Gokile walked up to Shinzon, "Praetor, here is the area your device suggested." He had the display appear on the main screen, "Sergio was able to use an interferon based transporter buffer to filter the scans of the area to distinguish the pulse conduits of the new Ferengi warp-core engine."

Picard smirked, "A design flaw?"

Worf growled his approval, "Most certainly, the defect was fixed in the newer ships. The first ones to be constructed were sold as if they were the newer ones for more profit. There is no honor in their practices, but it could bring us to victory."

Shinzon hissed, "Yes, that is the Ferengi way. The Rules of Acquisition the Nagus uses can create profit and losses as quick as a flip of a coin. To do business with the Ferengi is to gamble. I guess it is a good thing they cheat each other, for we can use that to our advantage once again. If the Ferengi have harmed Allisa, they will die."

Picard desperately wanted to get the women back, but feared Shinzon was slipping back to his former self. "Lets just concentrate on finding them first."

Shinzon turned with a wicked smile, "Set in a course to take us into the path of the Ferengi vessel."

**A/N:** Well, Shinzon might be back after all.

How goes it in Nemesis Land?

Smile at your own Nemesis and be glad it isn't Shinzon of Remus,

ExplorerWinds.


End file.
